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Chapter 10: Buy One, Get One (2)
Lee Shin had decided to recruit some of the protagonist’s future companions.
To achieve his goal, he headed to the territory of the Guardian Spirits.
“Why did you go ahead without saying anything?”
Ignoring Ban Jung-hoon’s complaints, Lee Shin thought about the spirit he had come to find.
It lived in the Guardian Spirit territory.
It was weaker than any other spirit.
So weak that it naturally awakened the Guardian Spirits’ instinct to protect it.
Guardian Spirits mainly belonged to the Illusion attribute.
They protected their contractors from negative influences.
In the webtoon, they were only as useful as lucky charms.
But in the game, they were extremely valuable.
They could resist status effects, block mental attacks, and protect against inner demons and qi deviation.
They had many useful abilities.
They also worked well with almost every other spirit.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say every Spirit Master made a contract with one.
“Why aren’t they showing up? I heard this method works.”
“Please… come out…”
“I’m so pitiful… so pitiful…”
Around the outskirts of the Illusion Spirit habitat, many people were searching for Guardian Spirits.
Since Guardian Spirits only appeared when they felt the desire to protect someone, everyone was trying their best to look miserable.
Guardian Spirits may have been called the spirits of suckers… but this is a bit much.
Some people looked like they had been rolling around in dirt for days.
Their clothes were filthy.
The smell coming from them was unbearable.
Lee Shin simply walked past them and went deeper into the area.
“Wow.”
Following behind him, Ban Jung-hoon let out a quiet gasp.
The Guardian Spirit territory was truly mysterious.
Beneath the glass-like ground, colorful lights shimmered.
It looked like an aurora flowing beneath transparent crystal.
Crack.
The moment they stepped onto the glass-like surface, tiny cracks spread beneath their feet.
It looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Lee Shin walked forward without hesitation.
The wind rushed through the cracks.
His coat fluttered violently.
“Hey!”
“How much farther are you going?”
“It’s dangerous!”
Ignoring Ban Jung-hoon, Lee Shin took out the cotton candy machine.
His cotton candy business officially began.
Curious spirits gathered around.
Almost every spirit living in the Illusion area came to watch.
But these weren’t the customers Lee Shin wanted.
So it’s really as timid as the game said.
It won’t even show itself with this much.
He kept making cotton candy.
The sweet smell filled the area.
One by one, the curious spirits became bored and left.
Even after they were all gone, Lee Shin continued making cotton candy.
Fortunately, he had brought plenty of sugar.
The only problem was that this was just a prototype.
It wasn’t very energy efficient.
I hope it appears before the machine stops working.
He could replace the Spirit Stone powering the machine.
But doing that would attract curious spirits again.
If too many spirits gathered…
That timid spirit would never appear.
Eventually the machine would run out of energy again.
It would become an endless cycle.
Since Yu Ai was nearby, he couldn’t wait forever.
He had to obtain the spirit before she did.
Otherwise, he would lose the only mid-rank spirit of its kind.
Maybe I should have just brought finished cotton candy.
No.
That would have made it even harder.
Lee Shin had high spirit dominance, not high spirit affinity.
A little cotton candy wouldn’t make such a timid spirit trust him.
Only overwhelming quantity would work.
“Huh?”
“There are suddenly a lot more Guardian Spirits.”
Ban Jung-hoon quickly stood up from the tent where he had been resting.
Although this was Guardian Spirit territory, other spirits also lived here.
Guardian Spirits had gentle personalities.
They got along well with everyone.
They didn’t mind if other spirits entered their territory.
“So…”
“You’re finally planning to show yourself?”
“The new spirit you mentioned?”
Ban Jung-hoon walked over with excitement.
Now only Guardian Spirits remained on the crystal ground.
Every other spirit had disappeared.
“Would you like some cotton candy?”
“Why?”
Lee Shin offered some cotton candy to the Guardian Spirit standing in front.
It looked like a small silver bird.
The spirit tilted its head.
Then it carefully approached him.
It pecked at the cotton candy.
Its eyes immediately widened.
Apparently Guardian Spirits loved sugar too.
It buried its face into the cotton candy and kept eating.
“Whiriri?”
“Whiri?”
“Why?”
Curious guardian spirits began gathering around.
Lee Shin gave cotton candy to all of them.
“Whii!”
“Whiriri!”
They happily devoured it.
It should appear soon.
“Shuriii!”
Someone finally appeared.
It looked like a fennec fox.
Its huge ears and tiny face were adorable.
Its fluffy golden fur looked just like cotton candy.
“Would you like some?”
“Shuuu…”
The spirit remained cautious.
It repeatedly stepped forward, then retreated.
It couldn’t decide.
Lee Shin patiently waited.
Eventually…
The little spirit finally reached him.
The Guardian Spirits surrounded it protectively.
Feeling safe, it carefully took a bite.
“Shuu?!”
Its eyes became perfectly round.
Its ears stood straight up in surprise.
After freezing for a second…
It buried its tiny face into the cotton candy.
The cotton candy disappeared almost instantly.
“Shuu…”
The spirit looked up at Lee Shin with sparkling eyes.
It clearly wanted more.
Lee Shin smiled.
He immediately took every piece of cotton candy from his storage space.
The ground became covered with cotton candy.
“Shuuu!”
The little spirit happily jumped into the pile.
Like water draining from a pool, the cotton candy quickly disappeared.
“Shuuuu…”
Its body became round and fluffy.
It lay on the ground with a satisfied smile.
“So?”
“What do you think?”
“Shuu?”
The spirit jumped in surprise when Lee Shin spoke.
The Guardian Spirits quickly surrounded it again.
Perhaps they gave it courage.
Or perhaps it was simply happy after eating.
Either way…
The little spirit walked closer.
“I also have cake.”
“Would you like to try it?”
“Shuuung?”
The spirit tilted its head.
Lee Shin placed a whole fresh cream cake in front of it.
It had been made by a famous pastry chef.
He was certain the little spirit would love it.
“Shuuuu!”
It looked even happier than when it ate the cotton candy.
It even did little flips in excitement.
“If you make a contract with me…”
“You can eat things like this whenever you want.”
“What do you think?”
“Shuuuu…”
The spirit narrowed its eyes suspiciously.
“If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”
“Shuu!”
The moment Lee Shin turned around to leave…
The little spirit grabbed his pants with its tiny paw.
“What is it?”
“Do you want to make a contract?”
“Shuuuu…”
The spirit looked around nervously.
It was afraid of making a contract alone.
Just as expected from the world’s most timid spirit.
“Whiririri.”
One Guardian Spirit stepped forward.
True to its nature, it refused to abandon the weak.
Success.
Buy One, Get One.
The Amplification Spirit.
A spirit that had no combat power of its own.
Its only ability was strengthening the powers of others.
And now…
The strongest Guardian Spirit had stepped forward to protect it.
According to both the webtoon and the game…
That Guardian Spirit should be the highest-ranked one.
With these two spirits…
Reaching the Spirit King’s territory would be much easier.
Finding a better Buy One, Get One deal would be impossible.
Lee Shin smiled with satisfaction.
“So…”
“Shall we make a contract?”
“Shuuu!”
During the contract, the Amplification Spirit became vulnerable.
The Guardian Spirits surrounded it to protect it.
Their power combined with the Amplification Spirit’s ability.
A tremendous wave of energy burst outward.
Rumble…
The fragile crystal ground cracked violently.
It began shaking.
Strong winds and earthquakes spread across the area.
People screamed in surprise.
Ban Jung-hoon was no exception.
“Ugh…!”
“What is this?!”
Standing close to the center, Ban Jung-hoon was helplessly blown away.
He wanted to use his martial technique to anchor himself.
But he was afraid the fragile ground would collapse.
If it’s this bad here…
Is Lee Shin alright?
He raised his arm to block the wind and looked toward Lee Shin.
“W-What is that?”
His mouth fell open.
Transparent wings of light surrounded Lee Shin.
They looked like an angel’s wings.
Inside those wings…
Everything was calm.
There wasn’t even a breeze.
“What… are those?”
The area near the gate had already been fully explored.
Only the higher-level regions remained unknown.
But not this place.
This place has already been investigated.
Then why has no one ever seen that spirit?
This area was supposed to contain only Illusion Spirits.
The spirit certainly looked like one.
But no one had ever heard of an illusion spirit with power like that.
Illusion Spirits don’t even have rank differences.
They’re all supposed to be low rank.
Then how could a low-rank spirit create something like this?
Even considering they were in the Spirit Realm…
This was far beyond the power of a low-rank spirit.
While Ban Jung-hoon struggled to understand…
A brilliant light burst outward.
The winds gradually weakened.
The earthquake also stopped.
The earthquake came from the energy…
But the wind and light…
Is it a dual-attribute spirit?
Or maybe a triple-attribute spirit since it’s from the Illusion family?
Either way…
It was incredibly rare.
Once everything became quiet again…
Ban Jung-hoon immediately ran toward Lee Shin.
He nearly tripped over the cracked ground.
But he didn’t care.
“Hey!”
“Who is that spirit?”
“My first spirits.”
“The Amplification Spirit.”
“And the Guardian Spirit.”
“The Amplification Spirit?”
“Wait…”
“That was the Guardian Spirit’s power?”
“The one that’s only supposed to be low rank?”
Ban Jung-hoon couldn’t believe his ears.
Unlike the Six Great Spirits…
Ordinary spirits had almost no hierarchy.
At most, there were low rank and very low rank.
Guardian Spirits were also ordinary spirits.
Everyone believed low rank was their highest possible level.
Then what had he just witnessed?
That was impossible for a low-rank spirit.
“We’ll have to measure it properly.”
“But…”
“It might even turn out to be high rank.”
“What?!”
He had expected mid rank at most.
High Rank?
Ban Jung-hoon stuttered in shock.
“W-What about its attributes?”
“I’m curious.”
“What attributes does it have?”
“Whiriri!”
The Guardian Spirit replied with a clear, pleasant sound like wind chimes.
It sounded similar to ordinary Guardian Spirits.
But somehow much softer and purer.
“It says…”
“It has three attributes.”
“Illusion.”
“Wind.”
“And Light.”
“Really?!”
“What about its abilities?”
“Different ranks usually have different traits.”
“What about this one?”
“The original protection ability has become stronger.”
“It also gained purification.”
“And barrier creation.”
Ban Jung-hoon stood speechless.
Purification.
Barriers.
If this spirit had new abilities…
Then perhaps many other spirits had hidden abilities too.
If that were true…
Spirit Masters would become far stronger than ever before.
They would possess abilities comparable to magic itself.
“What…”
“What’s happening?”
“Be careful…”
Voices echoed from the distance.
Superhumans were approaching in battle formation.
Before they could be seen…
Lee Shin grabbed Ban Jung-hoon.
“Wha—”
Ban Jung-hoon tried to shout.
Lee Shin covered his mouth.
At the same time, he activated a barrier.
The transparent wings wrapped around them.
The inside felt completely different from what Ban Jung-hoon had expected.
He looked around in amazement.
Lee Shin quietly led him away.
They walked right past the approaching superhumans.
No one noticed them.
What…?
Ban Jung-hoon looked at Lee Shin in confusion.
[It’s one of the barrier’s effects.]
[What? I thought it was just a shield.]
The voice echoed directly inside his head.
It came through his Smart Glove and matching communication patch.
The unexpected answer shocked him.
[It has several effects.]
[That’s insane! If people find out about this, it’ll become incredibly valuable!]
The wings surrounding them fluttered proudly.
As if they were saying,
“See how amazing I am?”
It’s so cute.
Completely different from Lord Povras.
Ban Jung-hoon covered his mouth with his fist to hide his excitement.
The high-rank fire spirit his family served had the dignified presence of a strict general.
It was difficult to feel close to it.
This Guardian Spirit…
Was unbelievably adorable.
It was the complete opposite of Lee Shin.
Just like the difference between Lee Shin and little Rin.
[Let’s go.]
[Already?]
[What about the Amplification Spirit?]
Ban Jung-hoon asked in surprise.
[Not here.]
[I’ll show it to you somewhere else.]
[O-Okay!]
He was right.
They couldn’t reveal a completely unknown spirit in front of everyone.
The less the world knew about it…
The more valuable it became.
It could be revealed later to promote the cotton candy machine powered by Spirit Stones.
But not here.
If they were going to reveal it…
It should be on a much bigger stage.
Like the upcoming Fire Gathering.
