Chapter 6 : Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - Premature

A piece of paper in one hand, a pen in the other. I was not trying to draw an illustration. I had not properly drawn an illustration since awakening, but I had not had the time for it either.

“Let’s see. I’ve finished all 100 push-ups.”

I drew a line through ‘Push-ups’ written on the paper.

Even performing simple movements was quite difficult because my arms were so numb. It was a relief that I did not have to use my arms anymore, at least.

“……The problem is the sit-ups and squats.”

Before summoning Chun-sik, I planned to clear all the training he had set for me. I did not want to hear him nag, but honestly, it was good for my body to do it anyway.

And I had a great realization after watching Chun-sik clear the 10th floor yesterday.

“I really need to work out. Then I can become that strong too, right?”

It felt like I really needed to follow Chun-sik and train properly.

Right now, I could not even dream of the 10th floor by myself.

Without Chun-sik, the highest I could go was probably the 2nd floor. I would definitely die on the 3rd floor. It was not like Avalon had a revival function either.

After tidying up the mat that had been disheveled from doing push-ups, I got into position.

Following the standard form Chun-sik had taught me, I first performed one sit-up.

Without resting, I did a second, then a third. I gradually increased the number.

As the number increased, I would get stronger. Sturdier.

‘The nagging…… will decrease……!’

After doing about 30, I collapsed on the floor and caught my breath for a moment.

‘Should I buy equipment with the money?’

I was contemplating buying equipment for my own self-protection.

The sword had already been delivered. I had not brought it with me yet because my hands were not used to it.

I had enough money. It was because the money from selling the magic crystals had come in.

I could just ask Chun-sik to take a look at the equipment later.

I hurried to get back into position.

The remaining exercises were 70 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run.

……I still had a long way to go.

***

“Ha, haah……. ha……!!”

The moment I finished running exactly 10km, I lay down flat on the ground.

‘Ha……. This is really damn hard.’

But there was one strange thing.

I remembered stopping to rest at least 20 times when I ran 10km for the first time.

But on just my second try, I had run the whole way without resting once. Whenever I felt like stopping, my heart would pound and strength would well up.

‘Is this the magic power I’ve only heard about.’

Was I finally using this thing called magic power too?

It was something you would naturally learn if you took player lectures or training at the Association, but I was learning it in a much harder way than others.

I became lost in thought as I slowly caught my breath.

There were about 18 days left until the next Illustration Creation.

There was still time, but I also felt that I should start preparing the next illustration soon.

However, unfortunately, I could not use the illustrations I had drawn before awakening.

‘The Illustration Creation skill didn’t even activate at all.’

There were so many things I had already drawn. Let alone activating, if at least a cooldown message had appeared, I would have had some hope.

Well, if it really did not work, I could just slightly modify the illustrations I had drawn before and redraw them. Surely that would work, right?

Anyway, that was why I was currently deliberating.

What should the personality be like?

What should the abilities be like?

What should the gender be like?

My heart pounded anew. To think that my illustrations, drawn with such care one by one, would become summons.

‘The first one was a swordsman, so should I make a mage next?’

Ah, I planned to draw this illustration anew.

‘Should I ask Chun-sik.’

SWOOSH.

Just then, my vision suddenly darkened. A man dressed in a suit cautiously approached me.

“Excuse me, are you perhaps Mr. Park Si-hoo?”

“……Who are you?”

I quickly got up. As I dusted myself off and looked at the man, the name tag hanging around his neck came into view.

‘Baek Sang-cheol?’

The mark below it was the Player Association.

“Are you from the Association?”

“That’s correct.”

He was not alone. Behind him were several men in similar suits.

There was no need to report that you had awakened. The Association would find out on its own and register you. I knew that much, but I did not know they would actually come to find me.

Did I do something wrong?

He hesitated and looked around. I did not know what he was trying to say that he was stalling so much. As I tilted my head in confusion, he quickly opened his mouth.

“We came in a hurry, knowing it was rude, because of you clearing the tower yesterday.”

“The tower?”

Did they come because I had entered Avalon without registering? But everyone did that.

“By any chance, is it correct that you cleared from the 1st to the 10th floor yesterday?”

“That’s right, but…….”

I answered vaguely. The fact that they had come to find me meant they already had all the evidence, so lying was meaningless.

“Ah, I see! But why were you lying here……?”

“I was doing some strength training. And some cardio as well.”

Sang-cheol tilted his head.

“If you’re at a level to break through to the 10th floor, wouldn’t this kind of exercise be largely meaningless? By any chance, were you a trainer before awakening?”

“No.”

For some reason, the more I talked, the more I felt like I was becoming a strange person.

“Then why on earth are you working out?”

“……Uh.”

What should I say? ‘My summon made me do it!’ There was nothing that crushed my self-esteem more than that answer.

I quickly spun my 4090 graphics card of a brain and came up with a plausible answer.

“To keep my body from getting stiff.”

“I see. To not neglect your training even in your daily life! As expected, you are amazing.”

The response was somehow artificial. It felt like he was carefully observing me and trying to match my pace.

Come to think of it, the men behind him were standing with 007 briefcases. Could they be contracts?

“Why are you here?”

As if he had read my gaze, Baek Sang-cheol spoke seriously with a firm expression.

“Mr. Park Si-hoo. I will be direct. You will continue to be active in the future, won't you? And you will be signing a contract. In that case, how about proceeding with a contract with us?”

“A contract?”

So they really were contracts.

“Yes! Would you like to take a look at the contract?”

He stretched his hand straight back. Then, the men standing behind him handed him a 007 briefcase.

He unlocked the password in an instant and took out a few documents.

“W-wait a minute.”

“We will match the conditions to what Mr. Park Si-hooSi-hoo wants as much as possible. We don’t usually sign contracts with players who have just awakened, but for Mr. Si-hoo, we’ll make a special exception……”

“Wait a minute?”

I pushed away his hand that was thrusting the documents at me. Only then did Sang-cheol seem to grasp the situation and swallow dryly.

“I got a little excited.”

“Yes. You did. Suddenly showing up and asking for a contract out of the blue, isn’t that a bit much?”

“……I apologize. We were too hasty.”

Even so, the guy firmly placed the contract in my hand.

He was persistent. I started reading the contract, feeling slightly offended.

However, after reading it all, I felt a little strange for some reason.

“The conditions are too good.”

A hefty signing bonus, support for various weapons, and even use of the Association's facilities.

It included welfare for everything except climbing Avalon.

“These are the contract conditions we offer to A-Class players and above.”

“But why are you offering such conditions to me…….”

At my question, Sang-cheol’s eyes sparkled.

“We are signing a contract not with the Mr. Si-hoo of today, but with the Mr. Si-hoo who will become strong in the future.”

Aha. With those words, I understood what was going on.

It seemed that Chun-sik clearing up to the 10th floor in one go had an impact. I could understand why they were acting like this.

‘Did it take about 10 minutes from the 1st to the 10th floor?’

It seemed I was being seen as some kind of genius player who had displayed outstanding abilities as soon as I awakened.

Chun-sik was strong, after all.

I felt secretly pleased that the guy was being acknowledged.

“You don’t have to sign the contract right away! Please read it through and consider it positively……. I would be grateful.”

“Umm, I understand for now.”

“This is my business card. Please contact……. please do contact me, I will be waiting!”

Sang-cheol gently placed the business card in my hand and then quickly left. Even so, he did not forget to bow 90 degrees to me before getting in the car.

‘To think the Association would act like that.’

I heard that the Association's power had diminished recently because almost all players had joined guilds.

‘I guess that rumor was true. They seemed very desperate.’

Today’s training was finished. I packed up my mat and hurried home.

As soon as I arrived, I locked the door.

[Resummon Cooldown : 24 hours.]

[Summon Duration : 6 hours.]

I summoned Chun-sik.

CRACKLE.

“Hey! Come out here, quick.”

“My lord! You have trained. The flow of your magic power is stronger than yester……”

“Look at this!”

I cut off the guy's words and waved the contract in front of his face.

“What is that?”

“A contract.”

I explained to Chun-sik what had just happened, step by step.

However, Chun-sik, who was looking at the contract intently, clenched his hand.

RIP, RIIIIP.

“What the! Why are you tearing it?”

“It will not be helpful for your training.”

“Huh?”

“That aside, you have certainly grown a lot since the beginning. Congratulations.”

He knelt before me. Giving the disease and then the remedy. What a show, what a show he was putting on.

“Don't you feel less tired?”

At his words, I looked down at my body. I had forgotten for a moment, distracted by the contract.

“Certainly……. I feel less fatigue. No, I actually feel even more refreshed.”

“The exercises I taught you strengthen the body and at the same time serve to circulate magic power through it.”

My goodness. At times like these, he really did seem like a Sword Master.

“Since you are refreshed, we will not climb the tower today and will focus entirely on swordsmanship training.”

“The tower.”

“Do you perhaps wish to go?”

“No. Let me learn some of that swordsmanship too.”

“A wise decision. It is not too late to sign the contract later.”

“They seemed pretty serious.”

“Do not worry about that. If they continue to interfere with my lord’s training.”

He said ominously and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Don’t. Your lord will become a criminal if you do that.”

“That cannot happen.”

“Ah, right, Chun-sik.”

I spoke to him as we headed outside again together.

“Speak.”

“The signing bonus was enormous.”

Chun-sik flinched. The guy shot me a fierce glare.

“Money can be earned quickly. My lord! Please do not be attached to money. The most fatal thing to training is precisely material greed.”

He was still firm for now. Let’s see how long you can hold out, Chun-sik.

“They said they’d provide a training ground too. Available 24 hours a day.”

“It is fine. The very place we stand on with our two feet is our training ground.”

“They’ll also provide equipment if I sign.”

“It would be low-grade at best.”

“They were all good things. Expensive things that A-Class players use. They’d probably provide weapons too.”

“……By any chance, do you mean the expensive sword we saw before?”

The expensive sword Chun-sik was talking about was an item we had seen when I was buying the sword I currently had. It was an item worth a whopping one billion won.

Since the guy had been openly drooling over it, there was no need to question its performance.

“Wouldn't that have been possible? If not, I could buy it with the signing bonus. Oh, and they said they’d support housing and food expenses too. You could eat as many chicken skewers as you want then.”

Finally, Chun-sik stopped walking.

“My lord. Please go on ahead.”

“Huh? What are you going to do?”

“I will go and restore the torn contract. It was my mistake, so I will be sure to make up for it.”

“Do as you please.”

“A swordsman who blocks his lord’s path……! I am still very lacking. I will learn much from you, my lord.”

The guy muttered something to himself and then quickly walked towards the house.

“What on earth was that about.”

The billion-won sword and the chicken skewers. Which one was it because of?

I really had no idea.