Chapter 16: Rubik’s Next Move

"Achievement Confirmation"

Spat!

[Man Recognized by the Legend]

[Condition: Only those who have passed Helum's trial of Houm can acquire this.]

[Option: Absolute trust of Houm, Strength +5.]

Wow?

Levan, who had followed Houm after a sudden invitation, quietly confirmed the options of the achievement he had just acquired.

The result was excellent.

Levan, who gained an unexpected number, inwardly rejoiced.

How much Strength can one get just from Helum alone?

It is said that the more stats you have, the better.

Levan was not at all burdened by the frighteningly increasing stats.

Rather, it made him look forward to what was next.



It felt good.

Besides, he had said he was looking for an heir to the technique he had trained in his whole life, so soon he thought Houm might pass on some special skill to him.

Although he is labeled a legendary man... Eh, no way he would give me a legendary-level skill, right?

At best, it would be unique.

But honestly, even if the skill is only unique, its price would be sky-high.

While Levan greedily swallowed his saliva, Houm, who was walking ahead calling Korae, spoke.

"This is it. This is my home."

After a long walk, they arrived at Houm’s house located on the outskirts of the village.

From the outside, it didn’t look special at all.

If anything, it looked quite plain for a man who was considered legendary.

But the exterior wasn’t important.

What mattered was the inside.

Levan bowed his head upon arriving and said,

"Thank you again for inviting me."

"Haha, don’t mention it. I’m the one who’s grateful that a noble like you, who feels like a younger brother to me, accepted my invitation. Come, come. Instead of this, for a day like today, I have some long-saved liquor. Let’s have a drink and talk."

"Thank you."

Houm proposed the liquor.

There was no problem with drinking it.

War Lords realistically provided various adult content.

And since Levan used an adult account, there was no issue.

The two soon entered the house.

"Not bad."

Despite the plain appearance, the interior was relatively clean and tidy.

* Drinking would certainly cause some fuzziness, but after exercise, you must get enough protein. Today, I’ll treat you to a special three-course set, so I hope you enjoy it."

"Anything you serve, I can eat deliciously. I’m at an age where I can still utilize all this energy."

"Haha, surprisingly, you don’t look like a typical mage; your physique is quite good."

[Houm is very satisfied]

Houm’s affection level toward Levan was at max.

Maybe that was why the system repeatedly notified Levan of Houm’s satisfaction.

While Houm briefly left the room to prepare for the evening feast, Levan decided to check everything he hadn’t yet confirmed.

[Rubik’s Growth Cube (1)]

[Rubik’s Skill Cube Fragments (3)]

[Empty Cube Frame]

The reward for the affection quest wasn’t much.

A single growth cube for the next quest and a few promised skill cube fragments.

So what mattered was from now on.

Levan took out the growth cube he had just obtained and the epic cube he had earned earlier and placed them on the table in order.

Then he decided to assemble the epic cube first.

‘Of course, you should eat the delicious one first.’

Levan was the type who always ate the best parts first when served.

So his hand went straight to the epic cube.

Click click click -

[You have successfully assembled Rubik’s Epic Cube]

[Epic Quest has started]

[Welcoming the Guest]

[Grade: Epic, Special, Unique.]

[Condition: Defeat a mage affiliated with the magic tower who launches a preemptive strike in a normal duel, winning once.]

[Reward: Rubik’s Epic Cube, Rubik’s Skill Cube Fragments, Rubik’s Treasure Cube Fragments.]

Welcoming the Guest…?

Why is the content of this quest about welcoming a guest?

Levan carefully read the name of the epic quest.

"Did some assassination order (088) come down from the magic tower?"

Moreover, the condition was tough.

Previously, he had escaped a crisis by improvising a fair duel against Hudson, but this time he must have a normal duel, not a fair one.

A normal duel meant no restrictions; it was a fight as it was.

In other words, regardless of whether the opponent’s level was high or low, Levan had to fight anyone who launched a preemptive attack without discrimination.

“Well, that’s something for later... Next is the growth cube.”

Levan opened the epic cube and then checked the growth cube.

Click click click -

[You have successfully assembled Rubik’s Growth Cube]

[Quest has started]

[Recognition by Helum’s Elder]

[Grade: Special.]

[Condition: Be fully recognized by the elder of Helum, 486 Bellkan.]

[Reward: Rubik’s Growth Cube, Rubik’s Skill Cube Fragments.]



Levan chuckled at the quest content.

This new quest was also about affection, but this time the target was the village elder.

"Getting recognized by the War Lord at level 48 means maxing out affection… or rather, why do I have to keep raising affection when it’s not even a maid spirit?"

He couldn’t understand it at all.

Especially since this was a warrior’s village, not a mage’s village.

But complaining was useless.

This must also be Rubik’s will, so he had no choice but to comply.

While Levan finished checking this and that, the three-course set Houm had mentioned began to be laid on the table.

“Ah, so this is the three-course set?”

The three-course set referred to the representative sources of protein: pork, beef, and chicken.

Levan smiled softly at the table full of meat dishes.

"Come to think of it, how long has it been since I was treated like this?"

War Lords had a system called Satiety.

Satiety was like hunger, and if not satisfied, the body would weaken as if starved, lowering stats.

That’s why there were real food vendors in War Lords, just like in reality.

Not only corporations, but individual entrepreneurs sold their own cooked dishes as convenient meals.

But Levan was a survival-type gamer who had to live by War Lords.

Therefore, for the past year, he had hardly spent any money on satiety and thus rarely enjoyed proper food in the game.

"Sometimes it was fun when I entered a guild with a professional chef or met party members with cooking skills, but I’ve rarely been treated like this."

Perhaps that was why Levan was a bit moved by Houm’s hospitality.

Right then, Houm appeared carrying a jar the size of his own body.

Levan asked after seeing the jar.

"What’s that?"

“Well, obviously liquor. Didn’t I say I’d treat you with something I really cherish?"

… The emotion was instantly canceled.

Levan was overwhelmed by the enormous size of the jar.

With that amount, even a sake-loving drinker would probably be overwhelmed.

“Ah... the taste isn’t that good.”

Besides, Levan was barely 20.

Others might binge drink in college, but Levan spent his time gaming and hadn’t yet truly appreciated the taste of alcohol.

“Come on, have a sip first.”

Houm poured the liquor to fill a wide glass.

Levan took a small sip and found it very strong.

He asked,

“Brother... do you know how strong this liquor is?”

“Hmm? About 45 degrees, I guess?”

“W-what? 45 degrees?”

“Kuk, a warrior should be able to handle that much. You’re lucky, little brother. This liquor is a special snake wine made by soaking a giant snake called the Keimkal. You know? Snake wine is good for men.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that…”

Levan was stunned by the idea of snake wine out of all the many liquors.

Snake wine was known to be extremely strong.

His face quickly darkened at the thought, but since he had accepted the invitation, he had to drink.

If only to learn the technique Houm was going to pass on.

“As a newbie, I’m already drinking when even zero-levels avoid it.”

Thus began the deadly drinking party.

~

[Game Over.]

The drinking session lasted several hours.

Thanks to drinking, Levan used up all his playtime and was forced to log out.

Seongwoo, who logged out, yelled as he came out of the capsule.

* Waaah, I hate Houm so much!

There’s no such thing as this kind of drinking.

Plus, Houm talked endlessly.

Seongwoo had never been drunk like this before, so he couldn’t adapt to the situation.

“Never again will I drink. I’ll be a dog next time.”

… Thanks to logging out, he had no hangover at all.

Still, it wasn’t entirely fruitless.

Despite the severe stat drop of almost 90% from drinking, and suffering headaches, dizziness, nausea, and all sorts of misery, he didn’t lose consciousness and could hear everything necessary.

… The problem was, because of various abnormal debuffs, he couldn’t properly respond to questions.

But for such situations, Mega Company provided an auto-save service that remembers all gameplay inside the capsule.

“This day has finally come.”

Known as the replay function.

Streamers or YouTubers usually use it to extract gameplay videos, but sometimes it serves as evidence of crimes or proof of innocence.

Seongwoo, after leaving the capsule, took water from the fridge to soothe his burning throat.

Then he connected the saved footage from the capsule to his pad, lay down on the bed, and reviewed the drinking footage.

After some time, having watched all the footage, Seongwoo began organizing the information he had obtained.

“So to summarize, Houm was a legendary mercenary who was quite famous in the past, but now he’s back in his hometown searching for an heir to inherit his technique. But his standards were so high that no one has passed Houm’s first trial yet…?”

Though it sounded like boasting at the drinking table, Houm really was a fifth-rank mercenary general and a renowned brute warrior.

“And the first man to catch such a rich man’s eye was none other than me, Han Seongwoo.”

The more Houm’s specs shone, the prouder Seongwoo felt.

Muttering while looking at a paused frame on his pad,

“So if I clear this quest, I can learn the vision skill Houm brags about.”

The paused frame showed the content of the new quest Houm had given at the drinking party.