CHAPTER 10
The censoring of those words made it seem even more suspicious. Anyone watching might think I wanted to curse at Jung Hwan-jae rather than save him. Given the situation, I hadn’t expected anything higher-ranked to appear anyway. [This sheet music has been automatically registered to ‘Yeom Ye-ah’s’ personal data. You can now ‘Retrieve and Sing’ from your data. Would you like to retrieve and sing? Just as I was wondering if I’d awakened some new ability, musical scores unfolded before my eyes. Then, like a music box, notes poured into my ears as if telling me to follow along. Lyrics like those you’d see in karaoke floated before my eyes. As if telling me to sing these lyrics in this situation. A perfect guideline. ” Through such briiiight days, beyond timeee… I knooow youuu, ah…” Terrible rhythm, terrible pitch, terrible ability to follow guidelines. It was difficult to sing a song I’d never heard before with just this. I couldn’t even get the pitch right for songs I loved and listened to ten times a day, so how could I possibly sing a song made just for me on the first try? But right now, wasn’t this a situation where I needed help from wherever I could get it? “In our future, that holds our hopes…” Skill effects began to surround me. Simultaneously, status windows I’d never seen while singing before filled my vision. [Extracting past records from the Valkyrie Network. A musician’s legacy from a fallen civilization wishes to pass their backup data to the Melodic Healer. The Melodic Healer lacks sufficient status to fully inherit the data. Only accepting partial cache. I’d sung countless songs since my awakening, but I’d never seen windows like these. Do I only get special effects when singing songs obtained from the Random Music Box? [Skill casting conditions met. Outputting correct skill wavelength. Searching for skills matching current vocal wavelength. Casting the Military Band’s Battle Cry! May Baldur’s divinity be with you!] Though I’d definitely sung much worse before, musical notes more complete than any skill I’d cast until now flew fiercely toward the pile of clothes. As they made contact with the monsters, an enormous light scattered in all directions. The notes, burning through the monsters as they penetrated inward, attached themselves to Jung Hwan-jae’s body standing in the midst of it all. From the outside, his body showed no wounds whatsoever. The notes endlessly circled around him while I sang without pause. “Ms. Yeom Ye-ah.” “Aaaaah, ooooh, please, what kind of lyrics are these? Aaaaah, ooooooh.” “Ms. Yeom Ye-ah.” I’d been so absorbed in my own singing that I hadn’t even noticed Jung Hwan-jae approaching and placing his hand on my shoulder. Coughing and clearing my throat, I looked up. Up close, he appeared completely unharmed without a scratch anywhere. His face, staring at me intently with various equipment back on both arms, showed both puzzlement and slight admiration. “Guild Master! Even if these monsters don’t cause much physical harm, how could you act so recklessly? Were you planning to stay like that for hours if I couldn’t use my ability?” “I thought a few hours would be fine.” “…” If we were a bit closer, I would have scolded him, asking if he was serious. I sighed and started walking. The dungeon interior was peaceful after the commotion had passed. After rolling his eyes as if searching for what to say, he spoke up. “Since you’re here, you can gather what you want and put it up for auction. Besides this place, there’s only one other dungeon where these herbs grow, so they’ll fetch a good price on the black market.” “Is it okay to openly talk about the black market?” “Association people come here too.” With nothing more to say, I awkwardly gathered all the herbs Jung Hwan-jae pointed out and put them in my pocket. This alone could cover several months of rent where I live. “Did the healing work properly earlier?” “Not just healing, but it gave a very slight stat buff too.” “What?” “It’ll be really useful once you’re proficient.” You should have said that earlier. I shot up from gathering rent money while digging my nails into the dirt. So when singing songs from the music box, I can give other buffs besides regular healing? I need to ask how to open Random Boxes as soon as we get out. He suddenly extended his hand toward me. After dusting off my dirt-covered hands and wiping them on my coat, I quietly took his hand. “Guild Master, how was my singing?” “The effect was definite.” “No, I mean how was the singing itself?” “…” Our clasped hands trembled slightly. I sneakily opened my status window. [Singing: F-] “I’ll practice hard!” “Yes, I’ll take you home.” His sharp response hurt my heart. All I could do was smile. After that, it was all about adjusting to Once. Learning what to do and how to respond properly and what facilities were in each building. The Guild Master prepared a soundproof space where I could practice singing alone. The rooms were individual spaces for hunters, and since they’d intentionally built many when constructing the building, there was one readily available for me. After practicing until my throat bled, I finally succeeded in raising my Singing from F- to F. ‘Still, it might be a bit difficult to let others listen. ”You mean you can’t stand listening to it. ‘ The Guild Master would seek me out whenever he had time and carefully listen to my singing. Though I tried not to show it, I knew he was in high demand and many people needed his attention. Feeling grateful and embarrassed by his consideration, I put in even more effort. As if acknowledging my effort, he would occasionally bring items worth putting up in the marketplace. Your listing of ‘Celestial Herb’ (16 units) has been sold on Miracle Mall. The amount minus 4% sales commission has been deposited to your registered account.] I was in a good mood from the morning. I’d thought it would cover a few months’ rent, but it was far more than that. It was enough to pay a full year’s rent at once. Though I had chosen an extremely low-end and cheap place to live. ***Hello~ You said you’re moving out next month, right? I’m coming to look today. Could you tell me the password?
Sure
*** And I made a decision. I would move using the money I’d saved up combined with what I’d just received. I thought I’d seen something about being able to enter the dormitory at Once if you request it and provide some funds, according to their internal regulations. ‘I’ll go there. Even if it costs more than my current rent, I’m earning more now.’ My life was going to work out well. That’s what I thought until I got to work. People often say that as you get older, you tend to hum and add melody to even insignificant words. But I don’t think so. This is just a characteristic of melody-loving Koreans. Though I don’t have data from other countries to back this up, anyway, that’s how it is. Even when stocking convenience store inventory, I would sing alone during the night shift, wondering where to put this and that, lamenting about how much would go to waste. I couldn’t endure those hours without singing. ‘But I guess I’ll have to break that habit.’ Here’s what happened today. ” Which floor should I go to? ” I hummed in a really tiny voice. The problem was that a hunter happened to be passing by. I was just following the essential Korean trait, though. Unfortunately, that person wasn’t wearing earphones and heard my singing directly. Even though I only sang one line. “Excuse me! Wait!” “Ah! Ms. Miju! Ms. Miju, please wake up!” That person had fainted.
