Reader of the Novel’s Extra

[Cube Cadet Forum]

Topic: Lee Shin

> So we all agree Lee is smurfing, right?

> NO WAY THAT GUY IS RANK 999

> Dude just walked Suho down like he was a mob XD

> Doesn't matter~ I made bank!

> Ugh, lucky. I bet on Suho...

> You bet on Suho after you saw Lee 1v100? Bruh

> Well *I* bet on Hajin losing and Yeonha escorting him to the infirmary ^_^

> @#$@#$ I should have done that too!

...

> Sooo... who wants to bet something goes down at the monster exams?

> I'll set up the betting pool on the Hajin/Yeonha shenanigans

> I bet Lee gets jumped by an assassin

> Bruh, that's a sucker bet at this rate XD

> I bet Suho accidentally cuts the testing range in half.

> Hm... I'll bet on that.

...

> So... hypothetically, if someone made bank from being hired to use their duel nomination on Lee, how should they like, clean that money?

> Just throw it all in the official Cube betting thing. They don't care.

> For real?

> Cube's admin staff is corrupt AF bruh XD

> Or you could just open an anonymous trust to sponsor yourself. Hypothetically.

> Bruh.

> South Dakota in the States is great for trusts btw. No rule against perpetuities there, so indefinite wealth.

> AMERICA HAS THOSE?!

> If you know where to look~

> ...IS THAT HOW THE CHAEBOLS KEEP THEIR OVERSEAS FUNDS?!

> SHHHHH

===

Nayun let out a soft chuckle as she stopped scrolling through the forums and lowered her phone.

It was a Korean barbecue restaurant in Seoul.

True to her word, Nayun was treating everyone out tonight for barbecue.

Though, by 'everyone' it ended up just being Lee, Rachel, and Evandel.

Nayun had invited Suho, but that guy said he had 'finally seen the truth path of the blade' and was doing last minute training before the monster combat exam tomorrow.

As for Yeonha and Hajin...

Well, Hajin had gotten better, but Yeonha insisted that he was still recovering.

Although Nayun didn't know exactly what was going on, she had the vague sense that a drama-worthy scene of Yeonha feeding Hajin fancy elixirs as an excuse for recovery was happening.

'Well, I'll find out by tomorrow.'

Their classmates had clearly become invested in the unfolding chaebol heiress/average cadet drama, so it'd be all over certain private forums by tomorrow.

For now though...

Nayun slipped her phone back into her purse and glanced over to where another drama show was unfolding.

Just like a real family, Evandel was huddled between Lee and Rachel, staring at the steel flat top.

"WOW." Evandel looked at the sizzling meat on the grill with wide eyes. "Meat, bar-cue!"

Lee chuckled as he expertly flipped the meat, testing how done it was just by feel. "That's right, Eva. Barbecue meat... but Korean style. I'll do a real grill and barbecue sometime... maybe in summer when we head back to your mommy's place."

Rachel blushed and glanced at Lee with a soft gaze. "You really don't care anymore, do you?"

"Rachel, love." Lee chuckled. "At this point, I think you'd be hardpressed to find anyone who believes that I'm Rank 999."

Nayun snorted as she started setting up the hotpot. "I barely believe you're Rank 999." She heated up the broth and started adding in mushrooms. "There's improvement, and then there's getting good so quick that it looks like you were hiding your skills the entire semester."

Lee shrugged. "I had a good foundation. Like I told you and Yeonha, the only thing I was missing was magic power." He paused and sighed. "...Though that's a completely lost cause now."

Rachel tilted her head to look at Lee. "A lost cause?"

"Yeah." Lee nodded. "After grabbing all those elixirs and rare ingredients, my physique got stronger. Unfortunately, my physique getting stronger meant my magic power went kaput."

Evandel copied Lee and let out a sage nod. "Magic, kaput."

Nayun blinked. "Wait. You're saying that you legitimately don't have magic power anymore?"

"Yep. My body can't hold it, and it disrupts magical effects. Which is why you should, uh, let me know if you have anything magical that's valuable."

Nayun paused and remembered how her estate ran on waaay too many spatial folding enchantments and magic. Then she said, "You are never allowed in my family home."

Lee nodded. "Noted. I might have a decent chunk of change now, but I don't have enough to fund the repairs of a chaebol's traditional home."

Rachel stopped and then looked at Lee. "...Are you going to accidentally destroy the magical barriers around Buckingham Palace if I bring you there?"

Lee paused. Then he started to sweat. "...Okay. Maybe heading to your place is a next year kind of thing until I can learn how to control the 'disable magic effects' passive I have now..."

Evandel giggled and said, "Daddy, magic BOOM."

Lee sighed. "That's right, Eva. Daddy makes magic go boom."

Nayun looked amused and said, "Wow. So you went from being mana dysfunctional... to making mana dysfunctional around you."

"Apparently. I think it's an improvement." Lee gave a thumbs up. "This means that monsters that only move their massive bodies with magic like instantly die around me."

Nayun paused in the middle of dropping some more ingredients into the hotpot with her chopsticks. Then she gasped. "OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT."

Since most monsters were inherently magical... and since a lot of larger monsters used magic power to move their bodies because physics would kick in and stop them from moving it so nimbly otherwise...

Nayun pointed her chopsticks at Lee and said, "If you fight a monster like the Mountain Tyrant that Yeonha's guild went to hunt..."

Lee placed the cooked pieces of meat onto a plate, casually slicing it into squares for Evandel. Then he said, "It would have to use normal physics after I whack it a few times. And that means it'd probably start crumpling under its own weight."

Evandel took the plate with a happy smile, delicately grabbing each square with a pair of chopsticks.

Or she tried.

But since it didn't work, she resorted to stabbing them instead... which somehow worked.

Realizing that, Evandel let out a happy squeal and started making kebabs on her chopsticks, nibbling on the bits of meat she claimed.

Nayun watched Evandel do that. Then she noticed how Rachel was absently doing the same subconsciously, making kebabs with bamboo chopsticks strips of raw meat to cook on the grill. "...Eva really is your baby girl, huh, Rachel?"

Rachel paused and noticed what Nayun was looking at. Then, when she saw that Evandel was making kebabs too, Rachel let out a soft smile and said, "Of course." She pulled Evandel into a hug and said, "She's my baby girl. Forever and ever."

Evandel squirmed and said, "Mommmmmy! No squiiiish!"

Rachel giggled and then pulled Evandel onto her lap, nuzzling her cheek with her own.

"Nyooooo~"

Lee smiled and said, "Well. It'll be a bit complicated to explain, so we'll run with 'long lost relative' for the time being. After Cube we'll come up with something though. I'm thinking we go full Pendragon with Evandel being a gifted magical baby from the Lady of the Lake."

Nayun blinked and then burst out laughing. "Really, Lee?"

Evandel's eyes lit up and then she grabbed Aether. Squirming her way free from Rachel's arms, she crawled back onto Lee's lap and then made a plushy sword that glittered with gold light. "Lady lake! Cal'br! SWOOSH!"

Lee laughed and poked Evandel's cheek. "No playing with holy swords at dinner, young lady."

Evandel paused and then gave a serious nod. "No swords at nom noms. Kay~" After that, she squished it back into a sippy cup and then grabbed the nearby pitcher of water to carefully fill the cup. After she did, she sipped on the water (glowing rainbow lights from the effects) and let out a satisfied sigh.

Nayun smiled and said, "Eva, you're such a creative little lady, aren't you?"

Evandel nodded and said, "Yeah! Bestest lady! Magic and lights and SWOOSH!"

Lee smiled. "Swoosh for later. Eat first, Eva." After that, he held out a piece of grilled beef for Evandel.

"Nom!" Evandel chomped on the grilled beef and let out a satisfied squeal, placing her hands on her cheek.

Rachel smiled at that and said, "You can't only eat meat, Eva. Here." She poured some of the hotpot Nayun made into a bowl. Then, using a spoon, she scooped up some mushrooms and vegetables, blowing on it to cool it down. After that, she held it out for Evandel to eat. "Nom noms~"

"Ew! No veggie!" Evandel pursed her lips shut.

Nayun gave Evandel a blank stare. "...You ate ginseng though, Eva."

Evandel nodded at Nayun and said, "Gi'seng yummy! Veggie, icky!"

Lee poked Evandel's cheek and said, "It's not veggies, silly. It's a witch brew."

Evandel blinked. "...Witch brew?"

Lee pointed at the pot and said, "Look. Pot, mushrooms... it's a magic witch brew. That's why it tastes icky. But it's good for your energy."

Evandel gasped. "OOOOHHHH!" She opened her mouth towards Rachel and said, "Mommy! Potion, now!"

Rachel giggled and fed Evandel the mushrooms and veggies. "Well, eat up, Eva."

Evandel chewed, wincing a bit at the taste. But she soldiered through, her eyes sparkling. "I eat witch brew, get stronker!"

"Stronger." Lee corrected Evandel and said, "And yes. You make magic potions and witch brews to get stronger and bigger."

Nayun gave Lee a blank stare and said, "You two realize she's going to grow up with a distorted view of the world at this rate, right?"

Lee raised an eyebrow and said, "Tell me that soups are not witch brews. You get water, add herbs and spices, mushrooms, and chunks of dead animals."

"..."

"See?"

"...It's still not right."

"But it's not wrong either. Besides." Lee chuckled as he wiped Evandel's cheeks with a napkin. "What's the matter with looking at life in a more fun way, right?"

Nayun rolled her eyes. "You say that. But in like ten years when Eva is completely delusional, I'm going to say I told you so."

Lee chuckled and said, "As long as she doesn't spend time with her 'rich auntie' and 'cool uncle' I think it'll be fine."

Evandel sipped on her cup again and said, "Yes! No spoilt! Only goodest girl! So I get Santa presents!" After that, she focused and tried to use the chopsticks properly again, pretending to be grown up.

But just for a bit.

After trying and failing a few more times, she gave up and started just spearing them onto her chopstick again, eating them like a kebab.

Nayun suddenly remembered something. "Wait, Lee."

Lee started grilling another set of meat and looked up. "Yeah?"

"...You said you disrupt magic now or whatever, right?"

Lee nodded. "That's right."

"...Isn't tomorrow's monster combat exam done by magicians summoning monsters in?"

"..."

Rachel blinked and slowly turned to look at Lee. "...Lee."

Lee started to sweat. "...It'll be fine. Probably. Maybe."

Evandel gasped. "Daddy! Magic break!"

"...Only a little. Maybe." Lee paused. "...Just in case though, I'll grab a few contingencies."

Nayun looked amused. "Like what?"

"I'll pull a Hajin and run a full armory. Just in case the spell goes haywire and summons like a hydra or something."

Nayun gave Lee a blank look and said, "You realize that now that you mentioned it-"

"SHHHHH." Lee flicked a few pieces of meat off the grill with a pair of chopsticks and onto Nayun's plate. "Eat the meat and don't worry about it. We can't have the world getting any more ideas to mess with me."

Rachel giggled. "Then maybe you should stop doing silly things to make the world want to mess with you, 'Hubby.'"

"Bold." Lee pointed his chopsticks at Rachel and said, "Very bold. But I like you when you're bold, Wifey."

Rachel turned a bright red, but she let out a warm smile.

Evandel's eyes brightened and she said, "Mommy! Daddy, kissy?"

"W-W-What?! N-No. Mommy wasn't going to- Mmph?!"

Lee leaned back, having just stolen a kiss from Rachel's lips. "Mine~"

Evandel let out a happy gasp. "Daddy kissy Mommy! Wow!"

"You...!" Rachel huffed and then quickly leaned over to nip Lee's chin.

"Ow! ...Oh, THAT'S why Evandel likes nom noms."

Nayun sighed, resigning herself to the role of being the third wheel in this family drama.

Still...

'Fluff is nice.'

...At least it was sweet and cozy fluff instead of the suspenseful and bloodpressure raising drama that was Yeonha and Hajin.