Chapter 254

“‘This episode should have premiered in a damn movie theater.’ Don’t you think so?” Chun Ji-Hyun asked.

Do-Jin opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had absolutely nothing to say to that level of nonsense.

“‘Today is officially the day I add another masterpiece to my personal list of space-background cinema.’”

He pressed his lips together and stared down at his salad like it might rescue him from this conversation.

“‘Even if I sold my soul to the devil, the part of me that loves Do-Jin would—’”

“Stop.”

“‘Remain foreveeer...’”

Do-Jin’s “stop” did absolutely nothing to stop the torture. She sat across from him while he was trying to eat a salad in peace and scrolled through the comments on the latest video, cherry-picking the most over-the-top thirst comments and mercilessly reading them out loud.

If he had read them alone, he probably would have snorted once and moved on. However, hearing a third party recite them dramatically in full voice made his skin crawl.

“Why are you acting like this? Everyone loves it. They are going crazy over the views right now. They are saying it is an all-time record smash hit.”

Recently, Chun Ji-Hyun’s favorite hobby was exploring Do-Jin’s channel. She screenshotted especially ridiculous thirst comments and saved them. She even used a secondary account to clap back at people who tried to start shit.

For her, the past few days had been absolute heaven. Ever since the three-hour-and-ten-minute main episode dropped, the die-hard commenters camping in the channel had been thrashing around like fish on dry land. Watching them lose their minds had become a form of entertainment in itself.

“Oh my god, who is this person? They have been leaving nothing but legendary comments. I am reading this one next.”

Did she get a bonus wired into her account or something? From Do-Jin’s perspective, today’s level of excitement was excessive even for her.

I am glad she is in a good mood, but... why does she have to do this in front of me?

Reading comments like that aloud to the person they were about should honestly be illegal. Unfortunately, that law was far from being passed while Chun Ji-Hyun was sitting so close in front of him.

“‘All languages in the world need to reflect on themselves. Not a single one possesses the vocabulary necessary to fully capture the emotions of a human who has witnessed Do-Jin.’ Mm-hmm.”

“That person is insane.”

It wasn’t just that one commenter. Everyone’s reactions had turned downright rabid because the narrative clearly included the fact that Do-Jin had asked for help and that everyone had contributed to protecting Lostania at his request.

“Wait, look at this person’s profile picture. This is unhinged... huh? Do-Jin, this person is a MeTuber. They have 300,000 subscribers.”

Chun Ji-Hyun muttered to herself while staring at her phone, then suddenly thrust the screen toward him.

“Do-Jin, look at this.”

He barely shifted his gaze. “Okay, yeah. Definitely insane.”

The person who had left the thirst comment had a peculiar selfie as their profile picture. In it, their face was painted completely white, and they were dressed as a duck. Unbelievably, the channel category was beauty.

“Wow, she is seriously gorgeous. Someone like this is your fan. Since she is your fan, I am subscribing too.”

Fine. Whatever makes her happy, that’s enough.

Do-Jin returned his focus to his meal. Even when he wasn’t busy, he needed to show that he could sit down and eat properly so people would stop worrying.

Everyone looks happy.

As he chewed, he thought back over the past few days. It had been nonstop celebration. Everywhere he looked, people were metaphorically firing off confetti cannons and popping champagne.

Ju Kang-Hee, in particular, had sent an absurd amount of gifts despite being swamped with work. He had heard that Rael Entertainment and the Rael Group were expanding rapidly and that she was drowning in meetings.

Still, the gifts she sent included luxury brand watches, wallets, and clothes that he didn’t even recognize. When he first saw the pile of boxes stacked by his front door, he had just stood there, dumbfounded. He had jokingly told her to stop adding more cars to the parking lot, and it felt like she had converted that entire joke into luxury goods and mailed it to him instead.

Mixed in with the mountain of designer items were several pieces that, to his eyes, looked like nothing more than bags of various sizes, except they were clearly for women.

I even prepared gifts for your future girlfriend. So you won’t have to stress about anniversary presents later.

— Ju Kang-Hee

Do-Jin quickly glanced over the mischievous note tucked between the gifts.

Future girlfriend, my ass.

He wanted to hand the bags off to any woman he knew, but when he thought about it, Chun Ji-Hyun, Theresa, and Kim Soso were basically the only options. None of those three reacted the way he expected.

When he offered one to Theresa, she simply shrugged.

“A purse? Why would I carry something like that? It barely holds anything. I would rather wear a backpack. Anyway, wanna go grind some monsters?”

That was about as on-brand for a hardcore gaming addict as it got.

Soso simply replied, “I already have plenty.” It was a typical answer from the daughter of a wealthy family.

Meanwhile, Chun Ji-Hyun shook her head hard and refused outright, saying she couldn’t accept something that expensive.

In the end, I insisted on giving it to her anyway.

She kept saying she had already received a bonus and that the director had given her a separate gift, so he shouldn’t worry about her. Still, Do-Jin shoved the bag into her hands.

“Just take it, Chun Ji-Hyun. If I keep it, the leather is going to rot before it ever leaves the box.”

“What did I even do to deserve something like this? I can’t accept it. I feel bad.”

What did she do, my ass.

Do-Jin knew better than anyone how much it meant to have someone beside him, looking out for him and caring about him.

He was one of the few people who could clearly compare the temperature of his current life with the cold emptiness of the past life where he had no one at all.

Do-Jin sank Chun Ji-Hyun with his ultimate move. “You cannot even let me give you something like this? I am kind of hurt, you know.”

Two days later, she came to him again, asking very carefully if it would be okay to pass the gift along to her family instead.

It sounded like she wanted to gift it to her mother, so Do-Jin told her to give one to her father as well. When he handed over the most expensive-looking piece, she resisted more than a little, but with the power balance between them that obvious, getting past that resistance was no trouble.

Was that why she’s been so excited?

As his thoughts drifted, he pieced together the reason Chun Ji-Hyun seemed so unusually happy. She had not only received a gift herself, but had also gotten luxury items through work and passed them on to her family, so of course she felt good.

What is she doing, roleplaying “Manager of a Regressed Gaming Addict”? Sounds like the title of some ridiculous web novel.

With that dumb thought lingering in his head, Do-Jin finished his last bite and let out a quiet sigh inside. Everyone else looked happy, so he should feel good too. But honestly, he hadn’t been in a great mood lately.

I really hope it’s fixed today.

The Grimoire of Truth had completely locked up because of the side effects from his connection with Sion.

“Phew...”

“Do you want more?” Chun Ji-Hyun asked.

“No. I ate enough.”

“Enough, my ass. Anyone watching would think you are some trainee idol trying to starve yourself.”

She grumbled at his tiny portion size, but Do-Jin pretended not to hear and stood up from his seat. It was time to leave this calm, worry-free reality behind and dive back into the virtual world where all the problems were waiting for him.

***

The moment he opened his eyes, the familiar liquid greeted him again. Beyond the glass chamber, Sion’s back came into view.

“You are awake.” She tried to sound heavy and dignified, but it didn’t quite fit anymore.

Do-Jin was still inside Sion’s giant potion tank. He had kept his in-game avatar soaking in here on purpose, wondering if it might help restore the Grimoire of Truth. Unfortunately, both the reward calculations and the Grimoire’s recovery had been stuck in limbo.

I want to go out and start looking for those doors to other worlds already.

Outside, things had gone completely insane because of that. All across Lostania, players were running around like mad, trying to become the first to discover a gateway to the new regions. The whole world buzzed with competition.

Do-Jin wanted to join that rush too. He even had a few guesses about where some of those “doors” might be hiding. Yet a more urgent problem held him back, and the frustration kept piling up.

At this point, soaking in a damn potion bath is not going to fix it. My body and Magic Circuits feel completely restored already, so I should probably start looking for another solution...

The problem was that he had no real leads.

Even asking Master didn’t help.

He had gotten so desperate that he almost consulted Sion Greys directly, but the Light of World had blocked that path entirely.

Well... if nothing had interfered, they probably would have shown interest first.

The light that governed the world seemed determined to prevent Lostania’s existence from getting too close to the Grimoire of Truth.

If things follow the usual cliché, I am probably going to have to suffer through some ridiculous trial to fix this...

At least clichés meant there was still a path forward. Reality, though, tended to be crueler than any story. There was always a chance that even the opportunity to struggle would never come, and the Grimoire would remain locked forever.

As he was still turning it over in his head, the solution arrived so suddenly that all the time he had spent worrying over it felt almost pointless.

[Grimoire of Truth restoration complete.]

[Processing of all inputted information has been completed.]

[Classification of currently unprocessable data has been completed.]

[Analysis of interpretable information and applicable methods has been finalized.]

[Optimization process for the Grimoire of Truth has been updated based on analyzed data.]

As the message appeared, a golden wave burst from Do-Jin’s entire body. The light flowed back into the Magic Circuits spread throughout him, melting into them like liquid sunlight.

[The Grimoire of Truth has acquired a magical essence approaching absolute truth.]

[New function unlocked.]

[Interpretation of Elemental Affinity is now available.]

[Existing Elemental Affinity comprehension has been applied.]

[Previously analyzed results have been synchronized with newly inputted data.]

[Interpretation rate of Fireball has reached maximum.]

[The fully interpreted Fireball increases in power, reduces mana consumption, and no longer requires separate casting.]

Once interpretation of Elemental Affinity became possible, all the analysis he had accumulated until now applied at once, and the interpretation rate of every spell jumped like crazy. Because of that, several low-tier spells he used all the time hit one hundred percent interpretation. Starting with Fireball, an avalanche of system messages flooded his vision.

What the hell is all this...

Do-Jin stared at it, barely believing what he was seeing. This wasn’t about stats, levels, or artifacts. This was growth that changed the foundation of his class. His power and mana efficiency had already been high, and now they had climbed even further, which was absurd enough on its own. But the real change went beyond that. Casting had completely disappeared.

There was a massive difference between shorter casting time and nonexistent casting time. It was the difference between heaven and earth. The fundamental limitation every mage carried as a caster had just been wiped clean. And that wasn’t even the end of it. This growth came from the Grimoire of Truth absorbing the information gained through its connection with an Archmage.

[Reward calculation complete!]

[Rewards worthy of a mythic achievement have been added to the growth value of the Grimoire of Truth!]

As if it had been waiting for the Grimoire to recover, the reward completion message popped up immediately.

[Some previously inaccessible and uninterpretable information has been unlocked.]

Magical understanding from a realm he couldn’t even touch before began revealing itself.

[Trait Seeker of Truth has been created.]

[You may now view and implement higher-tier magic.]

[Seeker of Truth]

[You may use spells one tier above your current usable magic.]

What the fu—

The moment he read the final line, Do-Jin was so shocked that he accidentally swallowed a mouthful of the treatment liquid.