Transmigrated into the Gacha Game I Abandoned for 10 Years

Chapter 107: Hierarchy Advancement (2)

About 30 minutes later.

Shadra’s unusual (?) actions continued.

For example, subtly embracing while talking, or pressing down on one arm, starting with obvious movements to giggling or subtly making promises.

Of course, Kim Hyunwoo felt something was off due to such blatant behavior and looked at Shadra, but every time, Shadra dispelled his suspicions with her expression.

Whenever Kim Hyunwoo looked at her with a puzzled expression, Shadra made an innocent and naive face as if she had not intended such an appeal at all.

“I’m not aware of this behavior at all. I’m just doing this because I’m so happy to see my Dad after such a long time!”

That was her appeal.

Even though it might have seemed like an overt appeal from a third party’s perspective, it was only noticeable from such a perspective and was not that overt after all.

As a result, Shadra, who had been earnestly appealing while avoiding Kim Hyunwoo’s suspicions, began to wind the conversation up.

“That’s true. I don’t know about regular Labyrinths, but you have to be affiliated with Lartania to take on something like a Boss.”

“Should I just join Lartania then?”

“Wait, wouldn’t that be a problem? You’re affiliated with the Mage Tower, right? Wouldn’t joining Lartania cause various issues?”

“Um- That’s true, being a Tower Master at the Mage Tower means you get a lot of support, like research funding, materials, and other things. But if Dad needs me, I can leave!”

Very cleverly, she successfully made an appeal that she could give up her position as a Tower Master for Kim Hyunwoo.

“No, you don’t need to go that far.”

“Really? But if you ever need me, just let me know. I mean it.”

Shadra successfully scored points with Kim Hyunwoo and then left the scene.

And, watching all this quietly were,

well, to be precise, Loriel and Giral, who had been blankly observing Shadra’s peculiar behavior, both thought the same thing without needing to say it out loud.

“Ah, this might be a bit dangerous.”

Truth be told, though it might seem that way, both Giral and Loriel truly wish for the best for those they serve.

Giral hopes for Merilda’s success, and Loriel wishes for Rin’s well-being.

Ironically, the reason Loriel and Giral, whose wishes are practically in opposition, have a not-so-bad relationship with each other is because of the actions of Merilda and Rin.

…To be honest, neither of them feels much of a threat from the other.

Giral does not feel threatened by Rin.

Loriel does not feel threatened by Merilda.

That’s the reality.

Even the heads of merchant groups on the same level as them feel a sort of pity for them at this point.

At such a point, seeing a woman who obviously started from a different point and moved differently from Merilda and Rin, it was natural for them to think this way.

“…I’m not a dog, right, I mean, I’m a wolf… But… are wolves canids…? No, I am a wolf…”

“…Was that also not enough? This is inevitable- but somehow with magical power injected-”

Especially seeing their superior, who vacillates from joy to sorrow at the words of the Lord of Lartania, fall into a terrible groggy state due to that woman’s cunning verbal skill made it all the more so.

Thus, without needing to say anything to each other, Loriel and Giral sighed and made up their minds.

“I guess we have to forcefully move and help out after all.”

“We really need to start helping our Master in earnest.”

They had been helping up to now, but now it was truly time for the group to move.

‘…Wait, I wanted to ask if, with a talent in alchemy, she could create something like fuel, but I forgot to ask.’

That thought came to him as he fiddled with a Magnifying Glass upon arriving at his office.

Kim Hyunwoo, who had thought to ask the moment he heard that alchemy could be used, but the conversation naturally shifted towards golem summoning too quickly, remembered this belatedly.

‘Should I go back for a bit?’

He thought about going back even now but then shook his head and sat down.

It felt a bit awkward to go again after meeting for the day, and more importantly, he thought it would be a bit too much to ask for more since Shadra had already offered to help explore the Labyrinth out of goodwill.

‘I’ll have to talk about this when we meet tomorrow.’

Kim Hyunwoo thought so to himself and, thinking of Shadra, smiled warmly for no particular reason.

‘Who knew you’d grow up so well.’

In fact, ten years ago, it was all about grinding mini-games and gathering conversation info to gain honor points, but seeing a hero who had been invested in for so long grow to this extent felt quite special.

Kim Hyunwoo was definitely not yet in his 30s, but could it be said he felt like a father in his 50s watching his daughter enter a prestigious university?

…Of course, it wasn’t that deep of an emotion, but nonetheless, seeing the hero he had cared for grow up and even offer help made him feel like his actions hadn’t been meaningless, which was a pleasant thought.

‘Still, being called ‘Dad’ feels a bit, well, awkward.’

Understandably, Kim Hyunwoo found it quite awkward to hear such words from a fully grown woman, but he decided to let it be.

After all, Kim Hyunwoo had asked Shadra to think of him as her dad a few times when they first started talking, all in an effort to become closer.

It was more the help of a Wiki article than his own judgement…

‘Let’s see… So, should I check Shadra’s abilities tomorrow and then head straight in?’

Originally, as Elena had reported, since demons kept appearing, Kim Hyunwoo had planned to take a day’s rest after the Package ended due to the passage of time before heading down.

However, Shadra’s star rating is 4.5.

In other words, she could effectively carry them up to the 10th tier.

‘Of course, strictly speaking, since she belongs to the alchemy school which is considered support, we’ll have to see about her actual combat abilities.’

But seeing her confidence in her own strength, Kim Hyunwoo was somewhat hopeful that she would not be weak.

The next day, as promised, Kim Hyunwoo went to see Shadra’s golem crafting.

“I’ll choose something cool since it’s in front of Dad, okay?”

“Something cool?”

“Yeah, golems can look very different depending on what their basic body is made of, whether it’s by choice or by necessity.”

“I see.”

Seeing Kim Hyunwoo nod, Shadra smiled slyly and pulled a small cube from her bosom.

Shadra, without hesitation, threw the neat cube she took out into the air.

And with that,

crack-crunching

sounds followed!

The cube rapidly expanded, beginning to form the shape of a giant golem.

And then,

“…Oh.”

Kim Hyunwoo, upon seeing the golem that, though slightly smaller than a fortress wall, resembled a giant armored knight, couldn’t help but express his admiration, prompting Shadra to say,

“How is it? This is an Iron Golem. It’s very durable. It can excellently block enemies at the forefront, and its physical strength is formidable too.”

As soon as Shadra finished speaking, the Iron Golem, without hesitation, pulled its hand back and then struck down towards the ground.

Boom!

Kim Hyunwoo, upon seeing the ground on the outside of the wall crater with a sound as loud as fireworks, along with a turn,

“Wow…”

“How about it? This should be enough to help, right?”

“…Do you have time tomorrow?”

“Anytime!”

They immediately decided to descend into the Labyrinth the next day.

The day after Kim Hyunwoo decided to go down into the Labyrinth,

“……”

Kelva, who had been spinning around for quite a while as if leading a horde of demons towards a territory of the Norba Kingdom, was holding back his annoyance with a very angry expression.

Grrrrr!

The reason for his annoyance was, of course, because of Merilda and Rin.

According to his plan, Merilda and Rin should have arrived here a few days ago and, without a doubt, should have been killed by Kelva.

However, contrary to his expectations, the two heroes did not come.

Not only did they not come, but as soon as Kelva set the trap, they seemed to have been waiting for it, went into hiding, and cut off all news, resulting in a tremendous loss for Kelva.

It was critical to subjugate the territory as quickly as possible, yet he had already wasted more than three days, now going on four.

Additionally, the cost of Magic Stones spent on constantly deploying demons and soldiers to capture the two heroes could be considered part of that loss.

The issue of time could be resolved by moving more quickly, and the Magic Stones could be replenished by earning more resources.

However, the reason Kelva was so angry was because of his manifestation.

He had performed an incomplete manifestation to capture Merilda and Rin.

And this incomplete manifestation, though slight, resulted in an inevitable loss of his abilities.

In other words, from Kelva’s perspective, the trap had become meaningless, as it involved the permanent consumption of his abilities.

Grrrrr!

This irreversible stress was a source of considerable annoyance for Kelva, which is why he wore such an angry expression.

Ssshhh!

“…Ah.”

As soon as the time came, he felt all the energy in his body drain away as if it had never been there, letting out a sigh of emptiness and closing his eyes tightly.

And at that moment.

Boom!

“…???”

As if on cue, the explosive sound made Kelva open his eyes involuntarily, and soon he could see it.

The two heroes he had been desperately hoping would come just moments ago were now, as if they had been waiting, gathered together and stepping into the trap.

…In the state where Kelva’s manifestation had just ended.

And then,

“Aaaargh! You fucking bastards!!!”

A cry filled with Kelva’s agony and resentment burst forth.