Chapter 317

[Don’t cry! Don’t cry! Santa Grandfather doesn’t give gifts to children who cry!]

[All I want for Christmas is you.]

Familiar children’s songs and Christmas carols faintly echo throughout the apartment complex.

The noise waking up late-sleeping children caused Name to wake up at 7:50, a bit early before 8 o’clock.

She stretched her body and sat for a moment on the edge of the bed.

Her long hair draped down to the floor.

She needed a bit more time to fully wake up.

It seemed she hadn’t quite shaken off the fatigue from checking Professor Cheon’s gift in the middle of the night.

“Is it fully charged?”

Name wiggled her toes and pulled the charger cord towards her.

With her tiny big toe, she pressed the center power button.

A small, fist-sized bird-shaped robot was resting on the circular wireless charger.

Ding ding liliting~

A blue and green light shimmered on the back of the bird’s neck, chirping a startup signal.

Professor Cheon’s Christmas gift was none other than a hummingbird robot.

Unlike large, noisy drones, the hummingbird robot, equipped with a camera and holographic function, was frequently favored among streamers.

Name gently stroked her chin and finally spoke.

“Hi Vivi. Want to fly a little?”

Buuuu-

The hummingbird robot flapped its wings rapidly and flew through the air.

The sound of its flight was low, almost drowned out in the stillness of the room but enough to be heard over conversations.

Name watched in fascination, her eyes sparkling at the robot, a marvel of modern scientific technology.

“Follow me.”

The hummingbird robot hovered around her shoulder, buzzing excitedly.

As she opened her bedroom door, the bright sunlight poked at her eyes.

She squinted until her pupils adjusted to the light and shuffled her slippers into the living room.

Professor Cheon was leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee while watching TV.

As people tend to have less morning sleep as they age, he always woke up at least two hours earlier than Name.

With disheveled hair, Name crawled out slowly.

She couldn’t help but smile at the flushed marks left on her cheeks, where she had pressed against something while sleeping.

“Name, Merry Christmas! That’s something I’ve never seen before next to you! Did Santa Grandfather give that to you?”

‘So, Name really is just an innocent child,’ Professor Cheon thought to himself, chuckling.

Normally, she would run straight to the bathroom upon waking up, but she had come out after finishing the robot’s initial setup.

However, Name squinted one eye and pointed at the hummingbird robot with her finger.

“Didn’t Dad give it to me?”

“No, this is my first time seeing it. It seems Santa Grandfather gave it to you because you’ve been so good.”

Professor Cheon was pretending not to know, trying to maintain the innocence of childhood while savoring one of the happiest moments of raising a child, grinning widely.

But Name was not a character to fall for adult tricks easily.

“Oh, so you mean a severely obese old man suspected of diabetes and high blood pressure worked without breaks, unpaid, for 32 hours, giving 400 million children gifts weighing about 200,000 tons, equal to the weight of 20 Eiffel Towers, at a rate of 1,200 houses per second?”

The sharp statement from Name made Professor Cheon ultimately throw up his hands in surrender.

“Ha… all right, I surrender! How did you like the Christmas gift I gave?”

“Yeah. I’ve only seen it in ads, and it’s super cute. Thank you.”

“I’m glad to hear you liked it.”

Though his response seemed a bit curt, based on the long experience he had with Name, he could tell that she genuinely appreciated it.

As Name extended one arm, the hummingbird ceased its wing flapping and perched on her arm.

It seemed to understand commands through the user’s movements and glances without needing to say anything.

Even when Name patted its head, the hummingbird didn’t show any particular reaction.

Both of them were remarkably alike, like robots.

While this happened, Name’s hand stealthily reached for Professor Cheon’s coffee cup.

“Hey. You can’t do that. Drink it when you’re older.”

“Yawn… By the way, what time are you going out today?”

Name withdrew her hand and naturally changed the subject.

Limited edition magical stone deals that could only be purchased on Christmas were being released in large quantities.

Name planned to stockpile the mana needed to activate the 7-circle magic circle in advance.

However, for safety reasons, Professor Cheon decided to accompany her out today.

“Shall we leave as soon as you’re ready?”

“Then can I take the hummingbird robot with me? I want to test it outside.”

“Well, I don’t see why not? Do as you wish.”

Name, having stepped away from the sofa, turned back toward her room.

Finally, she went around behind where Professor Cheon was sitting.

In a slightly awkward manner, she intended to hug him but compromised by grabbing his shoulders instead.

“Thank you as always, Dad.”

Though it still felt unfamiliar, it would eventually become natural.

After properly expressing her gratitude, Name dashed into her room.

* * *

Just like one would go to a department store to purchase luxury goods or jewelry, high-priced magical stones were no different.

However, according to commercial laws, magical stones valued over 3 million won classified as precious items could only be purchased one at a time from a single retailer.

While there were certainly safety concerns, above all, it was to minimize the possibility of instant criminal or terrorist abuse.

But whether it was because those who enacted the law were lobbied or not, stores within the department store were treated as different retailers.

“Isn’t there a higher chance that a terrorist act would happen in a crowded department store anyway?”

Ironically, they left alone the places that required regulation.

“Sister, what’s the biggest thing here?”

“The wand? I think our young customer still needs a wand that fits her height…?”

“No, no. The magical stone.”

The Van Cleef & Arpels store that handled wands, watches, jewels, and magical stones.

I thought places selling such expensive products would be quiet, but that turned out to be a misconception.

Click—

Click click—

“?”

Two girls, draped in luxury goods, were taking pictures.

“Wow, sorry… Can I take a picture?”

“Oh yes… go ahead.”

Their makeup seemed quite immature, no matter how much they piled it on, they still looked no older than middle schoolers.

Where did they learn the manners of asking for permission after taking a picture?

It seems being rich doesn’t necessarily add a sense of decorum.

It was an unexpected moment of reevaluation for the sisters Eborum and Iharu, who were ranked 16th in the business world.

“Excuse me, could both of you come over here for a moment?”

A staff member came out and guided Professor Cheon into the back of the store.

After passing through a dim corridor, a VIP room was set up deep inside.

A gigantic green gemstone radiating with a menacing aura greeted us in the center.

The magical stones in the side display cases didn’t even catch my eye.

“What you’re looking at is a moldavite base magical stone excavated from the Grand Canyon plateau. The output mana pressure ranges between log scale 8.5 to 9, and if you want an exact measurement, I can provide it right here.”

Though it seemed like the explanation was directed more towards Professor Cheon than me, that was fine.

“What would be the price…?”

“The current price at our Modern Outlet is set at 1.54 billion won.”

“Gasp…”

Even if the staff member made an error in the honorifics, I couldn’t help but nod at the amount.

1.54 billion won certainly deserved respect.

How could a piece of rock be worth 1.54 billion won?

The value system influenced by my previous life protested vehemently.

While I could accept 20,000 won for chicken, the thought of paying 20,000 won for a Netflix subscription felt like fainting.

Reluctantly, I could only leave the store with the words “I’ll come back next time.”

In the past, I would have needed much preparation to use the 7-circle magic after just getting a good night’s sleep.

Of course, with enough money, nothing would be impossible, but the issue was that this money amount was astronomical.

“Name, do you want me to buy you some puffed rice ice cream?”

“Yes, I want to eat rainbow flavor.”

*Taste test sensation*

Cooling my head with the cold ice cream, I continued to think about money on this holy Christmas.

Clinical Trial Phase 3 of the Bio-Akashic sought to remain completely silent.

At this rate, I might have to start turning my eyes to stocks or overseas futures.

Whenever the whispers of temptation from greed came, I recalled Isaac Newton’s famous quote.

“Though the movements of the celestial bodies can be calculated, the madness of humans cannot be.”

Even the century’s genius lost around 5 billion won to the Hanhae Company stock incident.

With the salary of a mint director equated to around 40 years, that would probably feel like about 20 billion won in reality.

“Let’s not rely on luck and live honestly.”

There’s no guarantee that luck will always be with me, right?

The only reliable thing at those times has always been myself.

Still, having come to a department store, it wouldn’t do to leave without buying anything.

“I saw that they were selling puffed rice in the underground food court earlier. Shall we go eat one?”

“Do you like puffed rice?”

“Yes. Surprisingly, it’s considered a Western style.”

“Oh, Western? Got it. Let’s go then.”

Just as I finished the ice cream and stood up,

“Hello? Yeah! There’s a girl named Noname at the ice cream shop near the back door on the first floor. She’s still there, so hurry!”

“Squeee! So cute!”

“Is there any paper for signatures? Name! Please sign on our t-shirts!”

I suddenly realized that a massive crowd had gathered around me.

Surely, trying to accommodate everyone one by one would never end.

“I guess I’ll need to learn a signature copying spell when I get home today. Someone has definitely developed it.”

* * *

After being teased by Name and scolded for missing the Christmas Eve broadcast, Adella, enraged, dedicated her morning to a Rank match for Mellowa.

“Humph! Whether it’s Christmas or not, I won’t talk to my sister for a while!”

Even if Name offered to give her game money in truckloads, Adella firmly closed the door to her heart.

Disregarding that the thief was stuck in 5-tier meta, she slashed at opponents with dual swords.

However, her deaths increasingly outweighed her kills, and the stress simply piled up from losses.

Then, she encountered Mephistopheles.

Once a world-destroying villain, in Challenger Rank matches, he was just a target to be hunted.

Yet fortune is said to approach from the most unexpected places.

[The Blue Team has defeated Mephistopheles.]

After defeating Mephistopheles, the final piece of the puzzle was finally filled.

“Eh?”

[Mephistopheles’s Memories – 100% (Complete!)]

[Memories of Mephistopheles scattered in the mist of death. No curses can be found in the mist.]

As soon as the game ended, Adella immediately cast the emotion magic that Name had instructed.

[Cast: Emotion]

“4, 35, 38, 20, 14, 63, 63, 13, 35, 31, 5… What the heck! How am I supposed to know what to do with this!”

A sequential code was unfurled neatly from the left.

Name had clearly asserted that there would be some profound meaning behind it.

Perhaps because of this, Adella couldn’t give up interpreting this code.

But her intelligence was not as sharp as Name’s.

After hours of brooding alone, Name had returned from the department store.

“Tch… I guess you two had fun shopping… I was supposed to be the first to get a Christmas present when I woke up this morning…”

Checking her VR money in the inventory, Adella saw.

[Private Room]

[Namme and Adela’s House]

[system: ‘Adella’ has left the party in ‘Namme and Adela’s House’.]

Adella had finally declared her independence.