Chapter 14: Winning Ho Um’s Favor

Ho Um shouted the next name with an expressionless face.

In front of him stood several warrior users lined up.

“New warrior, Mal Lang Mal Lang. Please take care of him.”

“What a ridiculous name. Let’s start.”

“Yes, sir!”

Users could freely choose their character names, so there were plenty of unusual names.

Of course, if a nickname caused discomfort to others, the administrator would issue a warning and force a name change to a more appropriate one.

In that case, the only option was to purchase a rename ticket directly from the login window to change the character’s name.

That’s why most players used either their real names or names containing foreign words.

Revan named his character Revan for the same reason.

Now, Mal Lang Mal Lang stepped forward before Ho Um and picked up the first blunt weapon resting in front of him.

“Kuuuuuuh!”

There was only one blunt weapon in front of Ho Um.

But Mal Lang Mal Lang couldn’t lift it no matter how hard he tried.

Seeing this, Ho Um shook his head and said,

“Hoo, next.”

“Ah, this really isn’t happening.”

After that, several other warrior users lined up and tried lifting the blunt weapon, but none of them met Ho Um’s expectations.

“So many weaklings.”

Ho Um.

He was the famous blunt weapon warrior 1406 in Herum, but he was by no means a class instructor.

Still, the reason why numerous blunt weapon warriors crowded to him every day was because of a special secret rumored about him.

“Looks like Ho Um is busy again today.”

And a man was watching Ho Um from a distance.

It was Revan.

Revan had already seen several people come and go at Ho Um’s place and nodded his head in acknowledgment.

“Well, I tried before too. I heard that if you satisfy Ho Um, he gives you something special.”

Whoever lifts Ho Um’s blunt weapon would gain Ho Um’s strength.

This had been the rumor circulating among warrior users since ancient times.

But despite the rumor, no one had ever managed to lift Ho Um’s blunt weapon.

Why?

Because although the condition seemed simple—lifting the blunt weapon—there were several other strict conditions involved.

“As far as I know, you only get one chance, and even that is locked after level 15. That’s why no one’s succeeded yet.”

In other words, no one had succeeded due to impossible challenge conditions.

In fact, not a single information post about Ho Um had ever been sold on the trading board.

“Having to get close with someone like Ho Um…”

Revan had talked to Ho Um before.

After all, Revan used to be a warrior user and had tried to lift Ho Um’s blunt weapon himself.

Of course, he failed.

He still couldn’t forget the expression Ho Um gave him when Ho Um shook his head at him.

“Where should I start my attack?”

The War Lord’s 400 were just helpers who assisted users’ gameplay—not more, not less—but they were still 400 units created by Mega Company.

In other words, although they looked like robots at first glance, each of the 400 had countless behavioral algorithms.

As long as certain conditions were met, there was no 400 that couldn’t become friendly.

After some thought, Revan came up with a way to become close to Ho Um.

“First, let’s try to get noticed by Ho Um.”

The best way to quickly raise favorability was to lift the blunt weapon that Ho Um was always testing.

But since he didn’t even know the conditions for success, blindly challenging the blunt weapon first would only backfire.

Revan’s goal was not to lift the blunt weapon, but to become close to Ho Um.

So, he decided to start by frequently appearing in Ho Um’s line of sight.

Randomly striking up conversations would only reveal his true intentions too obviously.

Revan began by logging out.

To gather information.

~

“Phew, still no luck today.”

Evening.

Ho Um finished work.

Since the War Lord also recognized the concept of time, once the sun set, the 400s returned to their respective homes.

Ho Um’s “work” was simply waiting for the chosen one who would lift the blunt weapon he had prepared to appear at any time.

But today again, no such person showed up.

Disappointed, Ho Um gathered his blunt weapon and headed toward the fitness training center in the village.

But today, the atmosphere at the training center was a bit strange.

“Oh oh oh! One more!”

“Ahhhh!”

Herum was a warrior’s village, so it had quite a few fitness training centers.

Some were run directly by users, while others were public gyms managed by the village.

But Ho Um only visited one of the oldest and brightest training centers in the village.

It was his regular spot, and he preferred exercising quietly where no one else came.

Yet today, his usual training center was unusually noisy.

“Ah, Ho Um. You’re here?”

“What’s going on? Why is it so noisy today?”

As Ho Um stepped into the gym, the manager greeted him cheerfully.

“Oh, it’s not because of the noise. Listen, don’t be so hostile. We’ve got an interesting guest visiting after a long time.”

“Interesting guest?”

“Do you see that man over there?”

Ho Um followed the manager’s finger.

There, a man was squatting with a clumsy but surprisingly good posture.

Ho Um asked,

“Who is he?”

“A new visitor today. Do you know his profession?”

“What is it?”

“A sorcerer.”

“A sorcerer?”

“Uh, yes, a sorcerer. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Why would a sorcerer come here?”

“Don’t be surprised. He actually came to exercise.”

“A sorcerer exercising?”

“Exactly. That’s why Kal and Turbin are so excited teaching him.”

Ho Um frowned at the manager’s explanation.

A sorcerer who exercises?

He thought that was just a legendary myth in his imagination.

But right in front of Ho Um’s eyes, there was a sorcerer doing squats.

“A sorcerer doing squats…!”

Ho Um couldn’t believe what he was seeing, muttering the fact over and over as he quickly changed his clothes and went outside.

Then, he sat near the sorcerer and observed the sorcerer’s bicep exercises.

“Come on! Good! One more!”

“Uwaaah!”

The sorcerer made sounds that could be either cries or strange noises while standing up and sitting down.

Next to him were Kal and Turbin, happily coaching the newcomer.

*“His posture is pretty good. Can someone who can take that posture really be a sorcerer?”*

Ho Um didn’t like sorcerers much.

It was because sorcerers tended to subtly look down on warriors who used their bodies.

So most sorcerers spent their time at desks, relying on brains over brawn, like dry sticks of wood.

But the man in front of him was doing perfect squats, bending his knees properly.

“That’s right. Ho Heup, like that, spread your legs that way… Hey, that guy’s really something.”

The sorcerer was none other than Revan.

Ho Um’s bicep exercise pace slowed unconsciously because his mind focused on watching Revan.

And finally, when the squats were over, Revan didn’t just plop down but stretched his leg muscles carefully.

*

Watching that, Ho Um couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Hearing the sound, Kal and Turbin finally noticed Ho Um and greeted him warmly.

“What? Ho Um? When did you get here?”

“Looks like today’s bicep day, huh? Hey, come here and take a look at this guy.”

At Turbin’s suggestion, Ho Um quickly put down his barbell and went over to where Revan was.

He had wanted to join and teach Revan himself but hadn’t found the chance.

Ho Um approached with a sigh.

Seeing this, Revan smirked to himself.

‘Got caught.’

Revan smiled at his successful bait.

Having logged out to collect information, Revan had gathered data on Ho Um from the official War Lord homepage.

Seeing is believing.

He had to learn everything about Ho Um to get close.

As a result, Revan discovered Ho Um’s daily routine: spending all day searching for someone who could lift his blunt weapon, then coming to this gym to exercise before heading home.

Since Ho Um neither drank nor smoked, Revan thought the only way to get close was through this gym.

And the plan was executed perfectly.

‘A fresh newbie appears at a gym full of veterans. The veterans won’t be able to ignore him.’

Revan bowed politely as Ho Um approached with a sigh.

“Hello, I’m Revan. I started exercising today.”

“I’m Ho Um. I heard you’re a sorcerer—is that true?”

“Yes, it is. Though I only know one spell so far, would you like to see it?”

“No, it’s okay. But for a sorcerer, you’re pretty fit…”

Revan wore the sleeveless training uniform provided at the gym.

His well-defined bulging arms from muscle strength tests were fully exposed.

“Ah, I was just weak, so I’ve personally exercised a lot. Then I got bored and wanted to build more stamina, so I came here.”

“Ha ha… Still, it’s surprising to think a sorcerer would exercise.”

“There’s a saying that physical strength is national strength. If your body’s healthy, you can study magic longer.”

220008 Brain

At that moment,

[Ho Um strongly empathizes with your words.]

[Ho Um’s favorability toward you increases.]

[Ho Um’s favorability toward you rises further.]

An electronic sound rang in Revan’s head.

It was the very thing Revan had been longing for.

Revan’s gaze shifted above Ho Um’s head.

[Ho Um / Favorability (53%)]

What had he done to already exceed 50% favorability?

It must mean Revan’s plan had worked perfectly.

Ho Um shook his head, and after finishing his stretching, Revan said,

“I’ve rested enough. Now, shall we move on to the next exercise? How about lunges this time?”

“Lunges, huh! You seem to know your stuff!”

“Hahaha! Although we did lower body yesterday, a rookie like you should definitely do lunges. Let’s loosen up the body first.”

The atmosphere was lively.

Revan began raising favorability with Ho Um as subtly as possible, and before long, he reached the target favorability score.