NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28
Chapter 28. Spirit Master
—Would you like to come to our guild?
Yoon Do-ha invited Yoo Ji-han to the Dice Guild’s headquarters during the call.
He expressed a desire to speak face-to-face.
According to him, he absolutely does not invite just anyone, making this a rare invitation.
Since the guild had declared a break, there was no particular reason to decline, and Yoo Ji-han accepted the invitation.
Thus, he arrived in front of the Dice Guild headquarters building.
However, a massive construction wall, typical of a construction site, was erected to the height of the 2nd floor of the building.
The wall prominently displayed an apology message.
[Under Construction]
[We apologize for the inconvenience]
Wheeee—!
Bang! Bang!
The ground-shaking sound of a drill.
People wearing hard hats moved about the building.
Various heavy machinery, including excavators, were heading toward the back of the building and down to the basement.
“It’s quite chaotic.”
The Dice Guild headquarters was currently undergoing an expansion of the underground training area.
They were expanding the already constructed underground space beneath the building.
A small amount of magical energy contained within the special wall suppressed noise from spreading far, but the closer you got, the louder it became.
‘Isn’t there a better place?’
He was curious if they could even have a proper conversation under such conditions.
Kim Si-hu, who was beside Yoo Ji-han, spoke up.
“Can I come along too?”
“I already told Yoon Do-ha about it.”
Yoon Do-ha had formally invited only Yoo Ji-han to the guild.
But he was resolute about bringing Kim Si-hu with him.
‘Si-hu knows spirits better than I do.’
The reason the Rank 1 Hero was showing interest in the Rank 4 Hero Yoo Ji-han was undoubtedly because he recognized the presence of the Sylph.
And the Sylph that Yoo Ji-han had contracted with was originally the spirit of Kim Si-hu’s mother, Erna Hass.
When they visited the Dice Guild today, conversations related to spirits would surely arise, and there was no way someone who knew more about Sylphs than anyone else could be absent.
They entered through the glass door that revealed the inside of the building.
“Hmm?”
“Whoa.”
As soon as the two stepped through the door, all the noise and vibrations that had been ringing in their ears abruptly stopped.
It was as if they had walked into a quiet café with no customers.
Even the massive drill that had been shaking the ground was reduced to a mere child’s clap.
Kim Si-hu ran his hand along the inner wall of the building next to the glass door and gasped in astonishment.
“To cover such a large building with a high-level magical barrier…!”
“Is that hard?”
“Of course! The difficulty aside, covering a building over 20 floors with a magical barrier costs a fortune. Personnel fees for professionals and material costs… estimating, it seems this barrier alone must have cost over 20 billion.”
The magical barrier had significant soundproofing and vibration-damping effects different from the outer construction wall.
It meant that they spent an additional 20 billion, aside from the building’s price, to reduce noise and vibration.
Yoo Ji-han clicked his tongue.
The level of spending in a large guild truly was something that couldn’t be easily matched.
“I’m glad you noticed.”
A woman from the 1st floor approached them.
A small smile graced her lips.
“I see you’re quite interested in the magical barrier? You even guessed the price pretty accurately.”
“Um… it’s not that I’m interested specifically, but I learned a few things while investigating magic.”
She looked back and forth between Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu.
“You both are from Sweet Fun, right? This is Yoo Ji-han, and this is Guild Master Kim Si-hu.”
“Yes. You know a lot.”
“As you can see, we’re in the middle of a big construction project, so there are only two outsiders visiting the headquarters today.”
Yoon Do-ha had canceled all of today’s other appointments except for the meeting with Sweet Fun.
However, she didn’t relay those trivial details to the two.
“The Guild Master is waiting upstairs. Follow me.”
She led them to an elevator.
But it wasn’t your ordinary elevator.
“Isn’t that the elevator over there?”
“The executive elevator is this way.”
An exclusive elevator reserved only for high-ranking executives of the Dice Guild that ordinary people could not use.
Yoo Ji-han nervously asked.
“Is it really okay for us to ride this?”
“They specifically instructed us to treat you both with the utmost respect.”
The atmosphere felt even more formal than expected.
They carefully entered the elevator.
Wheeee—
As the doors closed without anyone pressing a button, the elevator began to move.
Instead of moving up or down, it first moved sideways towards an unknown destination.
A moment later, the elevator stopped.
“Here we are.”
A pleasant and spacious area filled with warm sunlight came into view through the glass walls.
Kim Si-hu, stepping out of the elevator, pointed at the glass wall showing the blue sky.
“That glass wall has a magical coating on it.”
“…You know that too?”
“I felt something odd about the sunlight coming in. It must be a basic enhancement coating that increases strength and hardness… and it even has transparent solar panels attached. Converts solar energy into magic.”
“…?!”
“Aha! The magical barrier that covers the building is maintained by the magic produced there? Wow, you must have really put a lot of thought into this.”
He provided an explanation as detailed as if he had been involved in building this structure from the start.
The woman turned to look at Kim Si-hu.
‘He figured that out just by looking?’
With that level of insight into the enhancement coating and solar-powered magic generation, the things he just said were all correct.
However, how did he grasp that so well without even seeing the building’s blueprints?
Moreover, this information wasn’t something publicly available online or to outsiders.
‘He’s not just an average hero.’
Even compared to the Rank 4 heroes of the Dice Guild, Kim Si-hu’s perception was outstanding.
No, concerning the ability to sense magic, he didn’t seem to fall short of even the Rank 3 or 2 heroes.
There must be an extraordinary reason why Guild Master Yoon Do-ha, who isn’t fond of meetings with strangers, suddenly invited someone.
“You’ve come. Sweet Fun.”
“…!”
Arriving next to the elevator was Yoon Do-ha, waving his hand warmly.
Seeing him wearing sunglasses startled Yoo Ji-han.
‘When did he arrive?’
He hadn’t sensed anyone nearby until Yoon Do-ha spoke up.
If this were a battlefield like an MA and he were the enemy, he would have certainly fallen victim to a surprise attack.
“Good work, Jae-kyung.”
“Not at all.”
“You can go now.”
“I’ll wait on the 1st floor.”
She lightly bowed after being told she could leave and got back into the elevator.
As the elevator doors closed, Yoon Do-ha said, “She can be a bit stiff, right? That friend is our Vice Guild Master.”
“Huh? That person is Park Jae-kyung?!”
Kim Si-hu looked back at the closed elevator in amazement.
A warrior-type hero and the Vice Guild Master of Dice, Park Jae-kyung.
She preferred to avoid media and public appearances, which explained why she was less recognized in society.
‘I thought she was just a simple guide.’
Although she was in Yoon Do-ha’s Rank 1 party, she was usually regarded as a Rank 2.
For someone that exceptional to just wait for Sweet Fun instead of doing something more substantial.
“Let’s sit over there.”
Yoon Do-ha guided the two toward the sofa.
It looked like an ordinary, common sofa one could see anywhere.
However, the moment Yoo Ji-han sat down, he had to change his opinion.
‘This is made of monster leather…’
The surface felt oddly familiar but also strange.
It was a sofa made from monster leather.
“Can we speak informally?”
“Oh, of course.”
“I feel overwhelmed by all the formalities whenever I leave Asia, you know? If you want, you can speak informally to me.”
“I think I’m okay with that…”
Yoon Do-ha wasn’t someone who particularly liked following formalities.
He often told guild members to speak informally, yet hardly anyone complied.
“Do you know why I called you today?”
“Isn’t it because of the spirits?”
“Bingo.”
Boom boom—
As soon as Yoon Do-ha finished speaking, something broke through the floor in front of the sofa everyone was sitting on.
It was a small creature glowing yellow, resembling a tiny mole…
“Mumu.”
It was the ground spirit, Mumu, contracted to Yoon Do-ha.
Yoo Ji-han was slightly impressed.
Who would have thought he’d actually see a spirit, something he had only seen on TV or in the news?
‘The floor seems intact?’
Strangely enough, the floor Mumu had emerged from wasn’t damaged.
Thus, it seemed more accurate to say that Mumu passed through the building or the ground freely, rather than just breaking through.
Moreover, Mumu had a complex body that looked much closer to a living creature than the simple form of a Sylph.
Despite being spirits, there were various differences.
Looking down at Mumu, Yoon Do-ha asked, “Are you helping with the basement construction well?”
“Mumu. Help. Construction.”
“I called you because I needed to talk for a moment.”
“Busy. Busy.”
“Hey, just a moment!”
Mumu, who had come while helping with the construction, muttered in a small voice.
He could express his thoughts with words, even if briefly.
It was said that a skilled spirit master could communicate with the contracted spirit, and Yoo Ji-han was witnessing a successful case right before his eyes.
“Guest?”
“Yeah. It’s a guest.”
“Um, um….”
The Mumu that had emerged from the ground glanced briefly at Kim Si-hu’s face.
Then, he intensely stared at Yoo Ji-han, blinking.
“What’s wrong, Mumu?”
“Um, um…? Um, um, um…?”
Making a cute voice, Mumu tilted his head.
Was it because he had seen a spirit master for the first time?
But Yoon Do-ha found Mumu’s peculiar behavior a bit strange.
“…Anyway. You both visited the communal training center before, right?”
“Yes.”
“At that time, there were traces of a spirit in the personal training room. I’ve been looking for you, Yoo Ji-han, because of that.”
“Does using a spirit leave traces?”
“That’s a bit of a special circumstance for me. My nose is more sensitive than others. Another spirit master might not have discovered it. Anyway, I took some time to find out since the Hero Department said they couldn’t easily hand out personal information.”
On the day Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu used the communal training center, Yoon Do-ha had requested the list of training center users from the Hero Department.
However, the Hero Department didn’t provide the information due to privacy protection, and Yoon Do-ha eventually mobilized the guild’s power to find them.
“Today, Yoo Ji-han mentioned bringing someone else with him.”
Yoon Do-ha glanced at Kim Si-hu.
“From the way you’re talking to the wall, you seem pretty sharp.”
“…”
Kim Si-hu, who had been quietly sitting on the sofa, nervously gulped.
Who could help but feel that way under the gaze of a Rank 1 Hero?
Yoo Ji-han spoke with conviction.
“He is someone essential for this meeting.”
“Why? Just because he’s the only other Guild Master?”
“Kim Si-hu is the son of the previous contractor of the Sylph I contracted with.”
“…Previous contractor?”
Yoo Ji-han briefly shared the story related to Erna Hass.
Then, Yoon Do-ha took on a very serious expression.
“Are you saying you contracted a spirit that had previously broken its contract?”
“Yes.”
“There shouldn’t have been any cases like that until now…! Can you show me the spirit?”
“It shouldn’t be difficult.”
Pop!
The Sylph manifested in the room.
“That’s the spirit.”
The ground spirit Mumu looked up at the Sylph.
It recognized another spirit like itself.
It seemed the Sylph also recognized Mumu, floating above it.
“So, you are the wind spirit. What’s your name?”
“It’s Sylph.”
“Would you happen to know how many years Sylph had a contract with Si-hu’s mother?”
“At least it must have been over 50 years.”
“What? 50 years? That long? …Ah! It makes sense since elves have long lifespans. I get it now.”
Yoon Do-ha quickened his understanding by switching his perspective to that of a non-human species instead of a human.
With a gloomy voice, he said, “To think a spirit master with 50 years of experience… it’s such a shame! If I had met that elf, Erna Hass, it could have brought a wave of innovation to all spirit masters on Earth.”
“…”
“Was it once possible for you to change forms?”
“Are you asking about transforming into a living being?”
“Exactly.”
“The Sylph has always been in a spherical form. While it understood language, it had never directly conversed like Mumu.”
“Hm, could spirits in another world be different from those on Earth? Or perhaps the temperaments of spirits can vary…”
Yoon Do-ha, a Rank 1 Hero of Korea and a highly regarded spirit master.
Even after over 17 years since his contract with a spirit, he still didn’t fully understand the nature of spirits.
How they were born, their limits of growth, and the spirit realm they supposedly returned to when dismissed were still shrouded in mystery.
Even after continuous research, he had been left with only a few clear facts.
‘Learn something new again.’
Inviting Yoo Ji-han had its reasons.
Meeting a new spirit offered a chance to gain new knowledge.
And there was one more reason for the invitation.
“Let’s wrap up the curiosities here and slowly move on to the main topic of the day.”
“Wasn’t the spirit the main topic?”
“That’s true. But there were actually two main topics from the beginning.”
“Two?”
“And after discussing, I think it’s fortunate that Si-hu is here with us.”
“Excuse me?”
Seeing the two, who tilted their heads in confusion, Yoon Do-ha smiled broadly.
“I’ll be straightforward. As the Guild Master of Dice, I want to acquire Sweet Fun.”
“……!”
The head of this large guild desired Sweet Fun.