BXBX NOVEL Chapter 19
The first place I went to was the alchemy club.
The alchemy club, where Alice Blessbuck, my professor, was currently in charge, was a small to a medium-sized club with only over 100 students.
The total number of students in the academy is close to 10,000, including fourth-year students, and due to the nature of the academy, where every student is required to join at least one club, 100 students is certainly small.
In addition, due to the nature of the club, there was a possibility that safety problems could occur, so it was not handled very well, such as being in a remote building quite far from the main building.
Nevertheless, the reason I joined this alchemy club even after investing precious time was precisely for three reasons.
First, Alice Blessbuck, an important character in the original story, is a very biased character.
She would try to watch out for herself, but in the game, she tended to unknowingly favor students who clearly had more connections to her.
As an alchemist of considerable ability and strength, her favoritism must surely be of great help to me.
Second, it was because there were many things that alchemy could develop, such as my abilities and Nidhogg’s fang.
Of course, if it were possible, it would have been better if I had learned magic like Han Soo-Young, but unfortunately in this world, if you don’t have magical talent, it’s difficult to succeed no matter how hard you try.
And I was well aware that I didn’t have the slightest amount of magical talent.
Finally the third.
This was because this club had a playable character who was as important as Choi Hyun-Woo, Han Soo-Young, and Lee Ye-Eun, the priestess of the World Tree.
‘Due to the character’s personality, it’s convenient to get acquainted in advance. Or maybe I can’t even talk.’
Even among the playable characters with distinct personalities, I think it would be almost overwhelming when it came to strange personalities.
However, I had to get along with him as much as possible, even if it was just to say hello, even for an incident that takes up a large part of the middle to late game.
“Whoo.”
After taking a deep breath in front of a shabby door, I knocked carefully.
Then a weak voice came out from the inside.
“It’s open.”
When I opened the door, the first thing I felt was the smell of various drugs, steam that made my eyes hurt somewhat, and the sound of something boiling.
No matter who looked at it, it was an alchemist’s workshop. And a man was sitting in the middle of the space, looking at me with an upright posture.
He had blond hair and blue eyes, the kind of extroverted figure that comes to mind when one thinks of Westerners.
There was a certain plasticity to his eyes and nose, along with skin that looked as if it had been treated with chemicals.
And the large glasses that seemed to cover those features.
“Hello, I’m here for a preliminary visit.”
Was it called an uncanny valley?
Humans have an aversion to objects that bear a passing resemblance to humans, I felt it was as if they were embodying the words.
Perhaps it was because I knew that this man in front of me was actually a homunculus, an artificial life form created without gender.
‘In fact, Professor Alice didn’t even notice it at first, so I guess I’m imagining it.’
As I thought this, he smiled slightly at me and said.
“You are a freshman. Are you here to join the alchemy club?”
“Yes, I’m going to take a look at it first.”
Then he got up from his seat and walked to me.
And held out his hand as if he was pleased.
“Even simple visitors are always welcome if they are interested in alchemy. You may look around at your ease. I can give you a quick tour if you like?”
“Uh… .”
I looked at his outstretched hand for a moment, then took it.
“I’m Yoo Ji-Hyuk. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You can call me Cass Lyle.”
The homunculus, no, Cass Lyle said so and smiled favorably.
It was so natural that it was hard to believe that it was a thoroughly crafted expression.
“Yes, thank you very much. By the way, is Mr. Lyle(-ssi) the only senior here?”
“Originally, there are a few other people here, but… Today it’s just me. Still, I came because I thought I should keep my name as the manager.”
He said so and even made a humorous face.
It was so natural that I wondered if he was really an artificial creature called homunculus.
‘It’s dangerous.’
I couldn’t stand the physiological disgust that was gradually rising from the pit of my stomach.
I spoke to him with an awkward smile.
“I’m sorry, but I’m a little busy. I was just going to make an impression of what the meeting room was like.… .”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. But I don’t know anything about alchemy. In fact, since I entered high school, I’ve never had any contact with it at all.”
“So you are a beginner… ?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m a little worried that I might be a nuisance if I come here.”
At my words, Cass Lyle put on a nice smile.
“This is not a place for people who are good at alchemy, but for people who are interested in it and like it. Why would you come here to learn alchemy if you were good at it from the start?”
As he said this, he gave me an application for admission that he brought at some point.
“Well, since you say you’re busy, I’ll go back to my place now. You may look around and leave as you like. The application… If you don’t need it, you can just throw it away.”
“Thank you.”
When I bowed my head, he shook his hand as if it was nothing and went back to his seat.
I was a little self-conscious to come out right away, so I pretended to be looking around and got out of there.
“Whew… .”
Coming out quickly, I breathed out a deep breath.
I knew I would be running into him from now on, and I would have to get used to it as soon as possible, but I was worried.
‘I can’t help it.’
If I watched him all the time, I would adapt.
After catching my breath a few times, I made my way over to the archery club.
‘Who was in the archery club?’
First of all, there was Lee Ye-Eun as a representative.
In fact, the archery club was mostly aimed at learning how to use arrows rather than having any specific purpose.
Although the possession of a branch of the World Tree itself was a great advantage, it was best to use it as a weapon, as it should be used.
‘The bow is a difficult weapon to master, but… What can I do?’
It’s better than doing nothing.
While walking with that thought in mind, I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t checked my abilities for a while.
‘I’ll check it while I’m remembering.’
Thinking so, I immediately took out my cell phone.
And from the information I checked, I was able to confirm something quite unexpected.
Name: Yoo Ji-Hyuk
Gender: M
* * *
Stamina: D (+)
Strength: D (+)
Agility: D (++)
Mana: E (+)
Arts: D (++)
Luck: C
* * *
[Talent]
― Spirit’s Blessing E (temporary)
[Skill]
― Branch of the World Tree
― Henir’s Shadow
― Hunter’s Mark
[Arts]
“What.”
Spirit’s Blessing, was something I saw for the first time.
I quickly checked its detailed information.
Spirit’s Blessing E (temporary)
― The blessings of the spirits are circling the area due to the reverberation emanating from something you have in your pocket. If you wish, you may be able to dimly perceive the voices and forms of the spirits that make up this world, and these fickle beings may be able to help you.
“Ah… .”
As soon as I saw the description, something flashed through my mind.
Banshee’s necklace.
That’s why this talent was created.
‘I think it would disappear if I lost the Banshee’s necklace, seeing as it’s labeled temporary.’
However, it was completely unexpected as this had never happened in a game.
‘Could it be that it was literally a bug that didn’t apply in the game?’
Stopping in my tracks, I kept fiddling with my phone.
While checking other information just in case, I was able to confirm another change.
Branch of the World Tree (Bonded / Parasitic / Legendary)
[State]
― It belongs to the owner.
― Parasitic on the owner and cannot be forcibly removed.
[Effect] [Passive]
― Increases agility and art significantly.
― Increases strength and stamina slightly.
― Increases overall stats in areas with vegetation.
― You can feel the sense of nature more sensitively.
― The spirits become interested in you. (new!)
[Effect][Active]
― Part of the World Tree can be extracted from the body. At the moment, that is immature.
— ???
— ???
— ???
‘One new thing has been added, but it’s also spirit related… .’
It was completely unexpected, but it was definitely a good thing that the so-called ‘Spirit Affinity’ talent, had arisen.
If I made a contract with the spirit, it would definitely be helpful in many ways.
‘I’ll look into this later, when I have more time.’
Having made that decision, I hurried to the archery field again.
As I got closer, I could hear a heavy sound as if something was digging in, and the occasional sound of the wings of an insect.
Unlike the alchemy club I visited earlier, it had a good location on the outside, and that the building itself was not attached to other buildings, but was made only for archery.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the completely different hospitality.
‘The archery club was definitely one of the big clubs.’
Of the 7 positions, most of the snipers, who are the rear and the core of the attack, are archers, so I thought it would be unavoidable.
In fact, that’s how I remembered it being portrayed in the game.
‘I don’t think there was anyone who was strong except for Lee Ye-Eun and a few, even though it was big.’
Unlike alchemy and reading clubs, there was nothing involved in clear or important events.
However, unlike the previous two, I was able to knock on the front door of the archery club with a much lighter heart, as I had applied for it purely to improve my archery skills.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh, are you a prospective student?”
Immediately the door opened and a girl with bob hair asked me with a smile.
As I nodded my head, she beckoned me to come in right away.
There were already a lot of new students inside, besides me, taking a look around.
“Manager, there’s another student who wants to join the club!”
She quickly called out the person with whom she was conversing, but I could immediately tell who she was.
She was none other than Lee Ye-Eun, the first playable character I met after falling into this world and the original owner of the branch of the World Tree.
“Good job.”
Lee Ye-Eun said and looked at me.
Her dark golden eyes were full of power, reminiscent of a fierce feline beast, but on the contrary, her expression was calm.
“My name is Lee Ye-Eun. What about you junior?”
“I’m Yoo Ji-Hyuk. It’s nice to meet you.”
After the greeting, she looked at me carefully and lowered her head slightly.
“I believe we’ve met before, haven’t we?”
After pondering for a while, I nodded quickly.
“Yes, I believe we met about a month ago. Where the World Tree is.”
She nodded slowly and looked closely at my hand.
“Looking at your hands, it looks like you’ve never drawn a bow before … .”
“Yes. I’m a complete beginner…… If so, would it be impossible for me to join the club?”
“No way.”
Lee Ye-Eun said and she stretched out her hand to point me to one of the places.
There were several books piled up on one table.
“For more information about the archery club, you can check that one. There are no requirements to join the club, no complicated requirements…. All you need is a love for archery.”
“That means… .”
“It means you can join the archery club anytime you want, if you want.”
And she handed me the application form she had in her chest (pocket ‘?’). [ ‘품에’- Chest.]
When I took it, she said in a low voice, still quiet, but as if looking at someone.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner. When that time comes, I, the manager, or other seniors will give you serious guidance.”
And she bowed her head slightly.
“But I hope I can meet you as a junior in the club if possible.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
She nodded at my answer.
“Well then, if you have more questions, hold on to someone and ask. You can freely go around and look around anywhere except where the archers and targets are, or where we keep the bows and arrows.”
‘Huh… ?’
As she said this, I didn’t miss the twinkle in her eyes for a moment.