There Is No Need To Be Obsessed

After Geren closed the door, I tried to open it with force, but it was nowhere near enough.

To make matters worse, the magic stone began to function in order to lower the room temperature again.

What should I do?

According to Annie’s words, I would have to wait an hour before the door opened again.

It was impossible to wait that long in the freezer. I would be frozen before I could be rescued.

Then what should I do?

The answer was simple. I could just unlock it.

Wouldn’t it be fine to fix the magic stone connecting device, the key factor in opening and closing the door?

I set the golden apples down and looked for the opening-closing magic stone connection device.

In the innermost part, a set of connectors was found.

All the magic stones used in the frozen storage were intertwined, creating a complete system altogether.

At first glance, the magic stone connection device was quite complex.

If I touch even one wrong part here, I’ll be unable to use them all.

Since each connection device was originally formed from many elements linked together, one wrong move and all of the connectors would become unusable. That’s why one couldn’t touch a finished magic tool rashly and carelessly even if it was in a workshop.

But my case is a little different.

I was the one who developed the magic stone connection device in the first place, and this cold storage was also one of my ideas.

In short, it was me who came up with the idea of the magic stone connection device used in this frozen storehouse.

Still, I’m quite nervous because it’s been a while.

If one of these frozen storerooms were to break down, it wouldn’t just end with expulsion. I might end up in a pile of debt again, and I couldn’t give away all of the little fortune the viscounty had again.

Though, I had a lot of money, so it should be fine.

Uh…

With as much as I could recall, I carefully moved my hands.

This connector is a magic stone that activates ice magic…This must be an auxiliary magic stone that adds strength to the main stone.

The structure of the connection device consisted of a main magic stone, an auxiliary one that added power to it, and a few more minor secondary magic stones. For that, there was not only one stone, but depending on the magic tool, some had up to more than 10 magic stones.

Based on that, how big the system that kept this refrigerated storage would be?

At first glance, it looked like there were 20 magic stones, but each connector was not marked separately. (meaning the name and function of each stone were not stated there)

I had to judge based only on the amount of mana flowing through the transparent pipes.

It was almost impossible to find the magic stone connector responsible for opening and closing the door.

Isn’t this a bit too much for a welcoming ceremony?

However, it wasn’t bad as a reminder of knowledge and to stimulate my inactive mind.

As I touched the device, it felt like the locked-away knowledge of this world was gradually revived.

“Ah, found it.”

Finally, after a long while fiddling with the connection device, I found a connector supposedly the magic stone for opening and closing.

Now, if I modify the formula written on the magic stone…

On top of the magic stone, a formula consisting of symbols and numbers, which looked very complex at first glance, was engraved.

That formula was the magic embedded in the manastone.

And in order to engrave the formula, a special tool was needed.

“I think I saw a carving knife while looking around earlier.”

In order to engrave the formula properly, you must use a carving knife with a magic stone embedded in it and be used especially on manastone.

However, as a temporary measure, I could use a normal one as long as there was a magic stone attached to it.

“Found it.”

After warming my frozen hands as much as possible with my breath, I gripped the carving knife tightly and scraped the top of the magic stone.

As time passed, the sensation in my fingertips numbed due to the cold. My vision also started to blur, but I held onto my consciousness as much as I could.

The season when I first landed in this world was midwinter. I endured the freezing cold with only the summer uniform. Compared to then, I could still stand the current situation. At least for now, a breakthrough was right in front of my eyes.

If I made even the slightest mistake, I might not be able to get out of this place again, so I focused only on the magic stone before me without blinking.

Thanks to that, I gradually forgot about the cold.

And eventually.

“…it’s done.”

I succeeded in changing the formula.

I put down the carving knife that had been scratched so much that its edge became blunt, and carefully reconnected the magic stone to the device.

Subsequently, I injected magic power again.

(Rattle)

The tightly closed storage door began to open and cold air escaped through the crack in the door.

I did it.

An exhilarating shiver swept over my entire body, just like when I first created the magic tool.

I took the golden apples I had put down and stepped out of the storeroom.

Outside, all of the members who had gathered around were staring at me with astonishment, as if they had seen a ghost.

♔♚♔

Much time had passed since the frozen storage incident.

Before anything else, Geren was expelled from the guild, for he wasn’t just a bully, but it was an obvious attempted murder.

No matter how strong one’s backing was, they could never cover up an incident like this.

It was said that he was kicked out of the family for tarnishing the family’s reputation.

With Geren out of the team and free from bullying, Coco was more confident than ever before.

He did his job well, and whenever he ran into me, he would say hello in a shy way.

But the biggest change is…

“Hey, that’s her, the monster.”

“What do you mean ‘the monster’?”

“Don’t you know? She was locked in a freezer, but she opened the door by modifying the connecting device.”

“Does that even make sense? Even the people at the workshop can’t even touch the magic tools that have already been completed. It must be nonsense.”

“I thought so too, but no, there are people who witnessed it!”

“No way… ”

The way people looked at me was unusual.

Listening to the gossip that I had become so accustomed to, I felt like scabs were forming in my ears. I regretted having stood out too much.

No, then I would have died of hypothermia before being rescued.

Cold storage in this world was far more high-powered than that in Korea. It was because it used ice-based magic.

Above all, it was a mistake to think that this would seem like a great invention, since I couldn’t measure the difference in development in the workshop between the time I disappeared and after 7 years had passed.

Anyway, after that incident, I became a ‘monstrous newcomer’ besides being the ‘parachuted lover of the vice-chairman’.

Every time I passed by, the gazes followed me as if they were looking at a strange creature.

They were not very pleasant gazes, but it wasn’t too disturbing either.

When the Cheshire Merchant was founded and grew rapidly, it received similar attention.

“To be on a team with a monster like that, isn’t this unfair? The promotion review is supposed to be a relative evaluation.”

Someone whispered.

The moment I was about to turn around, Killivan, one of Team Four’s teammates, came up to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

Then he shouted out loud.

“Such a genius joins our team! Team leader Karance is also very lucky. Isn’t it much better than a member who only fills the number of people but has no ability?”

Upon saying that, he turned to glare at the members who were whispering.

“L-let’s go.”

After the noisy members retreated, Killivan said to me with a sigh.

“Don’t listen to all that! It’s just because they’re jealous!”

His blushing face was as cute as his red hair, so I smiled softly and nodded.

“Yes, I don’t really pay much mind. Thank you for helping me.”

“(Gasp)!”

Killivan flinched and ran away.

Not only Killivan, but other team members also took good care of me.

Of course, not everyone on the team was happy with me.

As someone had said, the promotion review was supposed to be a relative evaluation.

The more I shone, the more someone would be covered by the shade.

This wasn’t the only change.

After I openly helped Coco, the spirit of the members who had been ostracised within the guild was unknowingly revived.

Basically, the majority of apprentice members were commoners. That was why the few aristocrats with strong backgrounds often ostracised commoners with condescension.

Of course, within the merchant guild, rank and title were meaningless, but the idea that commoners and nobles were basically on a different level was deeply rooted in them, so they couldn’t go against it easily.

There were some teams that treated each other without discrimination like the fourth team, but not all teams were the same.

Even so, promotion was a relative evaluation.

Because they always wanted to push out even one more person, they alienated and ostracised the easiest targets and destroyed their spirit.

It was not to imply that Leo made a mistake in managing the guild. Leone surely did his best. However, this kind of situation could not be prevented.

Moreover, this was the lowest level within the guild.

A clique was secretly formed between the apprentices and lower-ranking members, and the want of oppressing the weak among them was intense…

However, recently, things had been reversed.