Chapter 49 : The Diamond Spoon’s Proposal

Rugang view?

Rugang view?

Rugang, if compared to Korea, is like the Han River, a river that runs through the center of Gyodam City.

It was the number one coveted residential area for all the citizens of Gyodam City—a high-rise apartment with a clear view of Rugang.

The area around Rugang had the highest housing prices and better security compared to other neighborhoods.

Of course, the notorious reputation of Gyodam City as a paradise for criminals didn’t just vanish, so sometimes villains would appear even in the Rugang view residences.

But petty criminals dared not even set foot near Rugang.

Rumor had it that some luxury apartments even hired ability users as security guards.

‘As expected, the diamond spoons are different. But still, a villain living in the neighborhood known for its great security? Gyodam City really is a mess…’

Well, would Korea be any different?

There were even articles listing many illegal workers among the top tax delinquents…

It was fortunate that we weren’t talking face to face.

Otherwise, my uneasy expression would have been noticed.

So I sent a reply in as cheerful a tone as possible.

“Wow. You live in an amazing house.”

“How about it? Want to come visit my place?”

Since I live alone, there was no reason to refuse the invitation.

Iris rolled her eyes up while writing the message.

I didn’t want to show too much excitement.

So I deleted the message and instead sent,

“Not right now. Maybe when I have time. I’m busy preparing for a full-time job…”

“Prepare while having fun. That way your mind will work even better.”

As soon as I sent my reply, Laika messaged back.

Her mind was already working hard as if she had already had a lot of fun.

While I was wondering what to send next, messages kept pouring in.

“How about next weekend? You can even stay over. My house is big and has many empty rooms.”

“Next weekend? Okay. I’m not sure about staying over… but I’d like to visit once.”

“Great. What’s your favorite food? I’ll ask the helper auntie to prepare it for you ^_^j”

When Iris accepted, Laika quickly sent a message as if excited.

‘Helper auntie’—the intent to flaunt wealth to charm Iris was obvious.

It wasn’t a bad thing.

On the contrary, it felt good.

How could it feel bad when a handsome, rich, and confident guy was so eager to be with me?

I thought the conversation would end when the business was done, but it didn’t.

Whenever I tried to finish, Laika’s messages kept coming.

‘Surprising. Looks like she’s enjoying this situation too.’

Wasn’t the plan to just sleep over and be done with it?

Iris was 22 and had never dated a guy in her current life.

But including her past life, she had memories spanning over 50 years, so her true self was far from innocent.

She had become skeptical about relationships due to several bad experiences in her past life.

She had the habit of twisting men’s words.

In her past life, she had attended all-girls middle school, high school, and college, and only dated men through blind dates.

So she hadn’t experienced many different types of men.

In other words, she was a type who was endlessly negative but seemed aware, yet strangely unaware.

So even when Johannes hovered around, she only got annoyed.

She didn’t suspect, “Could he like me?”

Her philosophy was that if a man liked her, he would actively try to win her heart.

A man who couldn’t express his feelings and just hovered around didn’t exist in her mind.

Laika fit perfectly into her common sense.

More precisely, Laika resembled the type of men who flirted in clubs or busy streets.

But from head to toe, he was on a different level from those men.

What if he just rushed to hook up?

Besides the innocent crushes in school, this was the first time in 22 years she’d been messaging a guy.

Feeling the excitement after such a long time, Iris looked at Laika with mixed feelings but was also happy.

“Ahem, I’ll go to bed now. Good night, Laika.”

After chatting for over an hour with Laika, Iris pretended to sleep and ended the conversation.

Her arm went numb from tapping the phone while lying on the sofa.

She almost fell asleep on the sofa but suddenly woke up.

She had forgotten to try the item she bought from the secret exchange.

“Purple, huh? Can I drink this? It won’t kill me quietly, will it?”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the skill synthesis potion she pulled from her pocket.

The secret exchange… literally a secret, known only to her.

That also meant it wasn’t officially reliable.

If she drank a mysterious potion and died, she couldn’t complain.

‘I really… If this is suspicious, then what’s the status window for? Am I hallucinating? I can’t just waste something I paid for because I’m suspicious. Let’s drink it… no, maybe a little later…?’

Living in Gyodam City for a long time only increased her suspicion.

Gyodam City Survival Guide, Chapter 5: ‘Even if a child gives it, suspect it first.’

If she couldn’t trust a child, then something with an unknown origin was out of the question.

Conflicted, Iris decided she wouldn’t die from it and gulped down the potion.

The purple liquid tasted exactly like grape.

She shook the bottle and swallowed the last drop.

Shortly after, a message popped up.

You have consumed the skill synthesis potion.

You can synthesize skills.

Please select two skills to synthesize.

‘Alright. What should I do?’

She rubbed her hands together and checked the status window.

But soon she realized she had made a mistake.

She didn’t see any skills that would be good to combine.

She should have chosen which skills to synthesize before drinking the potion.

Although she had already drunk it, couldn’t she decide later?

As if reading her thoughts, a message appeared.

The effect of the skill synthesis potion lasts one hour.

If you do not decide within one hour, the effect will disappear.

Please select two skills to synthesize.

‘Ugh, that was dumb. I didn’t drink it without thinking…’

‘Alright. If I synthesize something, it should be beneficial.’

She wiped the sweat from her brow and pondered.

She had invested most of her reputation, so she couldn’t just let the valuable item go to waste.

While she was struggling, the merciless time kept ticking away.

In the quiet, the ticking second hand of the wall clock was annoyingly loud.

After 40 minutes of agonizing thought with her head in her hands, Iris made a decision.

“I’ll synthesize [Skill A] and [Skill B]. Will both skills disappear after synthesis?”

When synthesizing skills, only the synthesized skill remains, and the two used skills disappear.

“Wait, then maybe I should think a little more…”

‘Synthesizing [Skill A] and [Skill B]. Synthesis requires time.’

Iris tried to cancel her choice, but the skill synthesis had already started.

She crossed her arms with a devastated look.

‘Sigh, well, what could go wrong? This is an item I bought for 500 reputation points. A better skill will be born. Yeah, that’s right.’

After nervously tapping the desk with her fingers for a while, the synthesis result popped up.

Synthesis complete.

[Skill A] and [Skill B] have disappeared.

You have acquired a new skill: [Skill C].

Congratulations.

‘Oh, not bad for a rushed choice.’

Iris brightened up.

She had been wishing she could use [Skill A] along with another attack skill when fighting on the ground or on the speed spring.

And now she could use a shield while shaking off the fur.

That meant she could attack from a distance and defend at the same time.

Skill synthesis potion was quite useful.

Iris jumped up and cautiously knocked on the window before summoning her new skill.

Chains suddenly crawled out from under her pajamas and instantly formed a round barbed wire fence covering the front and both sides.

Maybe because it was a new skill, the upgraded chain fence was denser than before.

‘Good, good. Open shield! I can attack through the gap with the flute… no, wait! What the hell?’

Her joyful face suddenly twisted.

She was happy the shield was denser, but not all parts had become dense.

There was a large hole between her legs just big enough for the flute.

And the chains, which formed shapes like shape-memory alloy, stuck their heads through the hole.

“Ah, what is this…”

Is this a dream?

It couldn’t be this bad if it wasn’t a dream.

With a hollow expression, she turned her body toward the full-length mirror.

The dense but see-through shield moved with her, and the chain flute sticking its head through the hole was reflected in the mirror.

This is definitely…

“Are you kidding me right now…”