On the day his random summoning cooldown reset.
Juhyeok was up and moving early.
He went to the public bathhouse.
Meticulously scrubbed himself clean.
Basic grooming – trimmed his finger and toenails.
Changed into fresh underwear.
Kept anything dirty far away.
After thoroughly emptying his bowels in the bathroom, he didn’t eat a single thing.
Nam Ga-eun said she’s attempting floor 63 today, right?
He hoped it would go well.
It would go well.
Player Nam Ga-eun would clear floor 63.
And he would meet a good new summon.
About an hour remained until the cooldown ended.
He sat properly in the living room with fresh purified water and prayed with a reverent heart.
Well, the “purified water” came from a water purifier, but it was still purified water, wasn’t it?
Barbarian Gobang and Kozak joined him.
The two offered prayers with the purified water at Juhyeok’s sides.
With their summoning duration over 7 hours, it was fine to call them early.
Plus, Gobang’s duration had recently increased by an hour after accumulating 5-star ratings.
“Don’t worry too much. Something good will come. No way we’ll get another idiot like Algopang, right?”
“I like Gobang though?”
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong with Barbarian Gobang? Thanks to him, we’ve cleared so many floors with S++ ratings.”
Gobang grinned at that.
“My summoner has acknowledged me.”
“D-don’t get cocky! You bastard!”
“Assassin, you’re jealous.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I was acknowledged way before you!”
Honestly, while he prayed for an LSSR (Legendary Special Super Rare), he knew that was greedy.
A realistic goal would be SR.
Being a bit greedier, SSR like Kozak.
Even SSR would be great, right?
Just look at Kozak.
Such immense pride.
Always going on about being SSR this, SSR that.
“The summoned person’s job is important too… I hope it’s someone with holy power.”
“I think so too. Floor 61 is still far off, but it wouldn’t hurt to summon them early. A healer is essential for any party, right?”
Healer.
Come to think of it, they really did need one.
The universally acknowledged nobility of any party.
With Gobang as tank, Kozak as DPS, and a healer…?
“Right. A healer could provide healing skills to Gobang who faces monsters barehanded.”
“Eh? Why waste precious healing on Gobang? That guy’s natural recovery is so high he heals on his own.”
“A warrior does not fear wounds.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
Mr. Gobang did have troll-level regeneration after all.
“Then maybe for Kozak?”
“Don’t need it either. Just wrap some bandages on. Codak-bung – Kozak just needs bandages. I always carry ribbons and bandages. Want to see?”
“…No thanks.”
Then why did they say they needed a healer?
“We only need a dedicated healer for Master Bong. Don’t waste healing elsewhere even if there’s excess holy power.”
“…”
“And call them whenever you’re feeling under the weather. Your real-world health is way more important than tower safety. Hehehe.”
If you were to map out Kozak’s brain structure, his own safety would probably take up over 99% – that’s true madness.
“Ah! It’s time!”
“S-such a tense moment!”
Finally, the moment for random summoning.
Juhyeok took a deep breath.
Cleared his throat,
Closed his eyes.
Pronounced each word precisely.
“Random Summon!”
Whoosh!
Gathering streams of light.
Once again, Kozak went,
“Drum roll…”
“Please don’t do that.”
“Yes sir!”
A human figure became visible.
Please! Even if not a healer.
At least SR or higher.
…Tch, what’s wrong with Rare?
Too much greed can ruin even good things.
Could always enhance their grade later.
Pop pop pop!
The light coalesced into human form.
And!
“Thank you for summoning me.”
Um…
“This humble maiden Gyeon Dallae swears to devote all her strength to serving Young Master Bong.”
Juhyeok blurted out without thinking.
“It’s a woman.”
“It’s a woman.”
“What should we do?”
“What should we do?”
“Well…”
The woman’s appearance in the living room.
Somehow familiar attire.
Typical Oriental, no, Korean style.
More precisely, like a woman from an old Korean painting.
White sobok with hair tied with daenggi[1], though she looked somewhat young.
Comparing to modern standards, she seemed like a mid-to-late teenager.
She was carrying items too.
A blue sword in one hand, bells in the other, and a metal mirror on her chest.
…The sword is probably a weapon, but what are those bells and mirror for?
Suddenly the girl glared fiercely at Kozak.
“What’s with that gaze? You dare eye a virtuous maiden with such lecherous intent? Perhaps you need a beating to come to your senses.”
“Eh? I wasn’t looking, my eyes just happened to…”
“Silence! Where do you get off lying!”
“But, but…”
“Let me warn you now. If you harbor impure thoughts after seeing my beauty, you won’t escape divine punishment.”
“…”
Honestly, she wasn’t quite that beautiful.
Gyeon Dallae turned her eyes to Juhyeok next.
Eek!
Truth was, he’d been looking her over from head to toe too.
Would she say the same thing to him?
“Young Master may look as much as he pleases. Please sit comfortably and admire.”
“…”
Clearly not an ordinary person.
What’s her grade?
…SSR, huh.
Thankfully the summoning seemed successful.
He would’ve been grateful even for SR, but SSR was the best.
Either way, he’d summoned a new person through random summoning.
A small, delicate, and rather bold young girl.
Her grade was high too.
No less than SSR, same as Kozak.
Even now she knelt formally in the living room, commanding the attention of all present.
Where did such charisma come from?
Could be because of her high grade.
But Kozak was SSR too and his behavior was the complete opposite.
There was something beyond her grade.
The catalog?
<Catalog: The strict, dignified, and serious chief priestess of the Heavenly Empire’s Imperial Shrine.>
- Name: Gyeon Dallae
- Grade: SSR (Special Super Rare)
- Type: Priestess (Human)
- Manifestation Duration: 5 hours
- Satisfaction Rating: None
- Re-summon Cooldown: 3 hours (applies after dismissal)
Type: Priestess.
Maybe setting out purified water and praying “please, please” while trying for LSSR affected the random summon?
Nah, no way.
But those descriptors in her name…
Strict, dignified, serious.
The three virtues.
Reading her background made it all make sense.
The source of this girl’s charisma.
- Gyeon Dallae was the daughter of Emperor Mu of the Heavenly Empire. From a young age, she showed great interest in Muism (巫敎), the state religion of the Heavenly Empire, and became a priestess at the Imperial Shrine. After her father Emperor Mu passed away and her young brother ascended to the throne, their uncle murdered him and usurped the throne. Enraged, Dallae performed a death ritual to cast a deadly curse (殺) on her uncle, but died herself from its backlash.
Her life story flashed through his mind.
Gyeon Dallae, who showed talent in talismans, sorcery, and incantations.
How she entered the Imperial Shrine and became the chief priestess under the tutelage of the era’s greatest shaman.
But then her brother was killed by their uncle.
Enraged, she vowed revenge.
Her uncle was no pushover either.
Anticipating her revenge, he set up all sorts of curse-blocking ritual formations and anti-curse talismans throughout the palace, even arranging people to take the curse in his place.
However, Gyeon Dallae was the Heavenly Empire’s greatest chief priestess.
She finally cast her deadly curse on her uncle and succeeded.
But using a curse for personal revenge went against heaven’s will.
In the end, the curse she cast rebounded on her as well.
Ah.
This delicate girl had been through so much.
At first glance she seemed cute, and her strict demeanor was slightly amusing, but still.
Anyway.
The Heavenly Empire?
The imperial family surname was Gyeon…
Given her attire too…
“Um, I have a question.”
“I am honored. Young Master, please feel free to ask anything.”
“What was the name of the person who founded the Heavenly Empire?”
“It was Emperor Gyeon Hwon. He was a great man who defeated the wicked Wang and Kim clans, expanded territory to include the old Goryeo lands, and changed the nation’s name from Baekje to the Heavenly Empire.”
“Huh?”
Gyeon Hwon?
“You mean Gyeon Hwon who founded Later Baekje?”
“That is correct.”
Could it be…
A parallel universe.
It was clear.
She wasn’t from the same world.
Same with Kozak.
He said he worked with his previous summoner in a place similar to modern Earth too.
In Gyeon Dallae’s world, Later Baekje unified the Later Three Kingdoms instead of Goryeo.
When he asked briefly, the history before the Heavenly Empire was similar to current history.
The historical divergence seemed to occur during the Later Three Kingdoms period.
Being a princess really explains her incredible charisma.
While he was marveling at this,
Growl.
Suddenly he felt hungry.
He’d skipped meals to pray for successful random summoning after all.
Should he order delivery? Would need to order a lot, so it might take time…
“Since we’re all here, want to have some ramyeon?”
“Sounds good. Even better if it’s mild flavor.”
“I’ll have ramyeon too.”
“How about you, Gyeon Dallae?”
“It would be against proper etiquette to be picky about food.”
A pot wouldn’t be enough.
Where was that big cauldron?
Ah, the steamer used for bossam should work.
As he took out the cauldron and was about to fill it with water and put it on the induction stove…
That’s when it happened.
“You wretches!!!”
Gyeon Dallae’s voice burst out.
Kozak and Gobang jumped in surprise.
“How dare you be so presumptuous as mere summoned beings! You deserve a beating – how can you let Young Master prepare food himself! Get up this instant!”
Kozak and Gobang rose halfway, awkwardly hovering.
“But I’m SSR…”
“What of it?”
“Between fellow SSRs, speaking informally is…”
“Ha!”
Gyeon Dallae gave a look of disdain.
“Now I see you don’t even know your place. Does your being SSR justify letting Young Master prepare food? Presumptuous fool. Shall I make you a eunuch to teach you proper respect?”
Gyeon Dallae raised her bells slightly.
A chilling energy emanated simultaneously.
Something didn’t feel right.
Kozak jumped up.
“You too!”
Gobang quickly raised his huge frame as well.
Kozak hurriedly approached Juhyeok.
“I’ll cook the ramyeon. Q-quickly, give it to me.”
“Oh, oh yes, go ahead.”
How could such dignity come from that small frame?
And what’s with those two?
They can’t even move, completely frozen.
Aren’t Kozak and Gobang supposed to be alpha males?
Juhyeok was no different.
He sat gingerly on the sofa, carefully watching Gyeon Dallae’s reactions.
“Young Master Bong.”
“Yes?”
“How much hardship you must have endured! Fear not any longer. I shall thoroughly educate these lowly ones.”
There hadn’t really been any hardship though…
Kozak frantically started cooking 15 packs of ramyeon in the cauldron.
Shortly after.
“…Is this the Han River?”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve committed a mortal sin. Failed to control the water.”
The broth was thoroughly diluted.
The noodles weren’t even visible.
And he kept watching Gyeon Dallae rather than Juhyeok.
He’s been completely dominated.
Nothing to be done about it.
They’d just have to eat it this time and either cook it himself next time or teach them properly.
Gobang must have been hungry too.
Just as he hurriedly picked up his chopsticks to eat the ramyeon,
“You wretch!!!”
Good grief!
Nearly had a heart attack.
What now?
“How dare you raise your chopsticks before Young Master? You shameless beast, truly no different from your appearance. What a disgrace. What a disgrace indeed.”
Gobang startled violently, quickly put down his chopsticks and hung his head low.
The meal atmosphere had grown cold.
Whether the ramyeon was going down their throats or nostrils was unclear – this couldn’t go on.
“…I don’t care about formalities, but meals should be enjoyed. What does it matter who eats first?”
“Ah!”
Gyeon Dallae’s face reddened slightly.
“This girl acted out of turn without knowing her place. I have committed a mortal sin against Young Master Bong.”
“It’s not that serious…”
“However! These lowly ones’ crimes are clear – please behead this girl along with these two wretches!”
“…”
This is maddening.
Let’s just eat first.
Juhyeok scooped up some ramyeon with the ladle first.
And put the ramyeon in his mouth.
Only then did Kozak and Gobang start eating.
They were so hungry they started slurping up the ramyeon with loud “Slurp! Slurp!” sounds, when…
“You wretches!!!”
This is crazy.
The three people eating ramyeon froze stiff,
“You two have crossed the line with your table manners. What sort of barbarians make noise while eating noodles?”
I was making noise too.
“Seeing your behavior, I can only imagine how much Young Master has worried. One should bite off noodles with their teeth in one bite. Slurping like that – you uncouth beings are no better than Japanese!”
Ah!
One mountain after another.
Yet they couldn’t even object.
Gobang aside, shouldn’t Kozak at least resist?
He can’t even overcome this seemingly fragile girl?
Despite being fellow SSRs.
Turns out they were both wimps too.
I’m already tired.
Are all summoned beings like this?
Why isn’t there a single normal person?
Gobang and Kozak cleared the table and did the dishes themselves.
Now what?
“Um…”
“Please speak, Young Master.”
“Want to enter the tower together?”
“This humble maiden will serve you with utmost loyalty. Please give your commands.”
With a new person here, let’s check out their abilities.
How does a priestess fight?
Will she cast deadly curses on monsters like her catalog description suggests?