🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 5
In the hand of [MyNameIsHardship], a beautifully tinted pink potion glowed softly. Since its identity was unclear, NPC Mode was activated, and an information window popped up.
[Affinity Potion (Highest Grade)]
A potion that increases affinity with the person it is used on.
If used too frequently, its effect diminishes.
‘Oh….’
This was definitely a rare item—something you’d only be able to obtain after reaching the major city, [Messana Raha]. Due to constant shortages, it was said that whenever one appeared on the marketplace, it sold instantly despite the hefty markup.
It was so expensive that even staff members would brag if they’d ever experienced it.
“I’ve tried an affinity boost before!”
“Phew….”
With eyes shimmering in pure capitalism, [MyNameIsHardship] stared at the potion for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind and gulped it down in one go. He placed the empty bottle on the counter and began speaking with newfound confidence.
“Alright. You should start feeling better now.”
Don’t say weird lines like that!
“It looks like you’re the one who drank something,” Mona said.
“There’s something like that.”
“Hmmm.”
Seeing Mona’s expression unchanged from usual, Mr. Hardship’s face twisted strangely. As if thinking this isn’t right, he picked up the empty bottle again and examined it several times.
The duration was three minutes. Before they knew it, a soft pink aura bloomed and drifted between the two of them.
‘Ah—? What did you just do?’
As Mona stood there flustered, alarms rang and multiple system windows appeared.
<SYSTEM> A user has used an Affinity Potion (Highest Grade).
Your relationship with [MyNameIsHardship] has temporarily increased.
Unlocked: Mona’s Secret Shop
Unlocked: Rumor – Clarisse’s Secret
Unlocked: Rumor – Field Boss, Giant Mutated Wolf
‘Wow.’
Mona couldn’t help but admire it. Money really was amazing. Even Clarisse’s Secret, which normally required offering literal mountains of wolf fangs, had unlocked.
Clarisse was the village baker—who, according to her setting, secretly had a crush on Minster, the muscle-bound butcher next door. If you used that keyword while talking to her, the rewards were excellent.
Come on, ask me everything!
For the first time in a while, Mona’s sense of duty as an NPC flared up. Even if someone merely mentioned flour instead of bread, she was ready to respond instantly:
“Minster received a love letter recently praising his bulging muscles. Want to know who sent it?”
“Miss Mona, I heard a rumor.”
“Oh my, rumors are always fun. What kind?”
“Well… they say you use dark magic.”
Mona blinked. Dark magic? That thing you had to suffer through endless trials in the Northern Continent to obtain?
She’d been busy all morning and didn’t even have the energy to be shocked—but this was absurd.
Dark magic… For a newbie who barely managed icy pebbles and healing spells, it was a word she hadn’t heard in ages.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Yeah, yeah! Of course I thought it was nonsense too. But they say they saw it.”
“Who did?”
“Well… that’s what the rumor says. That you lure monsters—and wander near the ‘Black Cave’ every night.”
Ha… There were rumors, and then there were ridiculous rumors. As Mona let out a dry laugh, [MyNameIsHardship] tilted his head and added,
“They’re calling you a witch.”
What? A witch?
“You can tell me the truth. Um… we’ve gotten really close really fast, right? Are those rumors true, Mona?”
“There’s no way. That’s ridiculous. Why would I—”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“…That’s it? Just ‘yes’? What the hell is this?”
The smile vanished from [MyNameIsHardship]’s face. He clearly didn’t believe her.
Just in case, he brought up other rumors, but when the topic reached the mutated wolf, he turned his head away as if uninterested.
“Ugh, seriously!”
Fuming, Mr. Hardship checked his status window repeatedly—then finally pulled out another Affinity Potion (Highest Grade) and downed it.
‘That won’t help…’
“Really, really—don’t you have anything to say?”
“That’s strange. You make it sound like something should have happened.”
“There must be. Think hard. Very hard.”
“Oh.”
“Ah! Did you finally remember something?”
“No. I just forgot to place an order for potion ingredients.”
As Mona bent down and pretended to rummage through the drawer under the counter, silence settled over the small space.
In the quiet, only the periodic alerts announcing the potion’s remaining time echoed.
“Um… Mona?”
“Just a moment! I’m almost done here!”
“I came really prepared, you know?”
The problem was that [MyNameIsHardship], eyes blazing, kept drinking those outrageously expensive affinity potions.
‘Do you know how much that costs…?’
It was honestly uncomfortable. Mona peeked over the counter, her expression uneasy.
System messages and alerts continued to ring. A long time passed.
Finally, Mr. Hardship shouted,
“You’ll regret this!”
‘…Was that directed at me?’
She straightened up too late. The shop was already empty. Only the door rattled noisily as it swung, creaking in protest.
She had been considering lowering his affinity anyway, but still…
‘This feels unsettling.’
A sticky sense of unfinished business lingered in the air.
* * *
Before clocking out, Mona used a bit of spare time to scour the web thoroughly. Eventually, she found the cause of this sudden, forced hotspot incident.
As expected, it all started with the wolf attack.
Both in lore and public perception, Mona was supposed to be a weak village resident. It did look strange that she’d made monsters fight each other.
Why had the skill window appeared so conveniently that day? And why, of all things, had she randomly selected [Grant Quest]?
Regretting it now was pointless.
‘I didn’t tame them, you people….’
After scrolling through several screenshots, Mona clicked on one post that had an especially explosive reaction.
“Huh?”
On the screen was herself—gesturing toward the wolf with a crooked smirk, one corner of her lips raised in a vile expression.
That was… way too malicious of a capture, wasn’t it? The comments were worse.
“She kinda looks like a witch…”
“Someone got the cave keyword…”
“Why are there two potion shops in one village? That alone is suspicious…”
‘That’s all just speculation.’
Traffic was declining again, but a handful of users were still obsessively clinging to the topic.
‘Other NPCs too—aren’t they abusing [Spread Rumor]? They’ve got it completely wrong!’
It was obvious people were just throwing things out for fun.
Mona recalled the initial setting bible and a few hints dropped in recent updates.
Next to the beginner village [Newbie] was the so-called Black Cave, an unopened and unknown location.
That alone was tempting—but rumors claimed the cave’s owner dropped an absurdly high-spec weapon.
Break the seal, get your name engraved in the Hall of Fame, and receive the item. Who wouldn’t be interested?
Until recently, it had been pure speculation. But once the update notice dropped, the flames only grew hotter.
Finding out that what people had pieced together for fun was actually real—how could that not make your heart race?
And one more detail was now considered almost certain:
Only those who meet specific conditions and receive a hidden quest may break the cave’s seal.
Was this outdated setup really the best they could do…? Mona thought bitterly.
Considering the Black Cave’s theme and all the NPC rumors, players were convinced that a dark-magic-using witch perfectly fit the role of the hidden quest giver.
Worse still, they were treating this as an obvious hint and eagerly baiting themselves.
‘Seriously—how does that make any sense?’
Clicking her tongue, Mona scrolled down.
“If I’m the witch, then this game’s completely doomed.”
After combing through even the internal staff boards, Mona muttered while organizing potion bottles.
None of the information was verifiable, yet stitched together, it formed a surprisingly convincing patchwork.
But more importantly…
‘Do witches even give quests?’
Her amused smile quickly turned serious.
“Haah….”
There was nothing she could do now. Sighing, Mona leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes.
‘All I can do is wait for it to die down.’
No matter what, people would stay suspicious. Once the real deal appeared, it should settle on its own.
‘Still… what about Riota? He might’ve been dragged into this unfairly.’
Thinking of the people who’d followed him out made her uneasy.
Next time he comes, I’ll give him extra potions.
Mona gazed at the sky, now clear after the rain, and thought calmly.
