Chapter 64 (1/2)
Expensive and Useless (2)
‘Perhaps the reason why this was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about items that would be money was because of my past life?’
I laughed bitterly at the thought. At the last moment, unlike my colleagues, who were all SSS-Ranked, I was facing aging alone and could not benefit from [Vital Flame].
“What this is, is…….”
I explained briefly to Hibiki and Nate about the effect of the item. From the moment the flame was attached to the core, the reversal of aging began, and youth could be restored. The state continued until all Potential Mana was consumed.
“Instead of being young and maintaining great physical abilities like a Hunter, who is B-level or above, it only rejuvenates a person. It’s about exchanging the rejuvenation with growth as a hunter through the activation of Mana. It’s not something we need.”
Hibiki tilted her head as she listened, “So, it only works on an Awakened. People who might want this are rich old people who are Awakened and don’t go to dungeons.”
As expected, she understood it at once.
“That’s right.”
“But then, isn’t it hard to sell the Awakening Stones to anyone? To prevent the Awakening of those who can’t be active as Hunters. Are there that many Awakened old people in the world?”
The physical conditions at the time of the Awakening affected everyone, even after the Awakening. In short, an older man in his 90s couldn’t do 100 meters in five seconds like a hunter in his 20s. Therefore, most countries were controlling the distribution of Awakening Stone. Most of them, but not all.
“Not every country has strict control over the Awakening Stone like Korea does. Even in areas like the Middle East and Africa, only the powerful and the rich have all Awakened. If one has a lot of money in those places, one can be exempted from being hunter recruits in case of a national emergency.”
They were not worried about conscription anyway, so they freely Awaken.
After my explanation, I put the [Vital Flame] on the red-black branches I had packed earlier. Then the fire that the stone had held spread to the branches, and nothing was left in the broken rock.
“Now, we’re going to go around a few more places like this.”
Hibiki sighed, very shallowly, when I said we had to fly again.
*
During the two-hour trek around the island, Hibiki hunted for the Fire Lizards, and Nate practiced Mana control over the rocks. When the stone broke and a new flame came out, I kept transferring it to the branch I was holding. Then the flame, which was smaller than a fist at first, grew as big as three human heads combined.
“Well…. I don’t think I can make them a subordinate.”
Unlike the troll, the Fire Lizards could not be zombified. It seemed to be because of the nature of their whole body burning up. I knew in advance, from my previous life’s experience, but I advised Nate to try. He needed to experience things by himself. Nate, who had moved away from Fire Lizards’ dead body, looked at me as I lit the branch, and asked, “That thing, doesn’t that go out?”
“Don’t worry. It’ll never go out.”
I thought this was enough.
“At this size, at least 50 elderly people can be rejuvenated.”
Of course, my plan was to use a middleman to sell [Vital Flame], instead of meeting all end-customers. I planned to sell them all to the Senator. He would act as a wholesaler. He’d find the best customers, but we would not release this amount to the market at once. Little by little, he would test the waters and increase the prices according to the demands.
‘This is the best condition to sell. After two years, it would be found in other countries’ dungeons, so then the supply will be even greater and the profit will be less.’
The fire-lit tree branch was inserted into the box-type artifact, and sealed, and then fed to ‘snake 2.’
“Come on, let’s go back.”
Nate’s eyes widened, “Huh? Aren’t you going to go Clear this place?”
“I’m not here to Clear. We’ve collected enough flames.”
The target condition of this dungeon was to eradicate all monsters on the border.
“It’s a C-Class dungeon, so the extra compensation won’t be worth it, and the monster’s low population density will take up a lot of time.”
Hibiki nodded as if she understood.
“So that’s why you told us that we’re going around all three dungeons in a day? We will literally just go around and not Clear?”
I shook my index finger from side to side, “Don’t be so argumentative. We will move until Clear for the next dungeon.”
When we came out of the gate, Hunter, who was guarding the door, nodded.
“It really must have been just a field trip,” He couldn’t imagine that we finished item farming successfully after coming back in two hours, “Well, the procedure is a procedure. So, I’ll check your belongings.” The procedure was to check whether items such as Mana core, Awakening Stone, etc., or dungeon creatures, controlled by the state, were carried out. “Yes, they all match exactly what you all had when you entered. Thank you for your cooperation.”
I had already absorbed the mana core, and he could not have guessed that the snake wrapped around my wrist had momentarily swallowed the [Vital Flame].
*
The next dungeon was just around the corner. The Gate Keeper Hunter guarding the gate was a man with a slightly irritated impression. But he greeted us sincerely, “As you must have heard, you should never go up the mountain. That is a non-Clearable area! Even if you’ve received an SS-Rank.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“But… are you sure you’re okay with only three of you? That’s supposedly a five S-ranked man dungeon.”
The Hunter looked anxious. We were only allowed to enter the gate because I received an SS-Rank. If I’d got a mediocre rank, the entry would have been impossible. As I pretended not to hear, we entered the 2nd dungeon for the day.
Weeing!
The system message popped up:
Dungeon information
Level: S Maximum number of entrants: 5 Clear conditions: Combining characters to complete the prophecy. Time to evolve: 9 years, 16 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes. Status: Stable
Moving on to the dungeon, the first thing I saw was a sky full of dark clouds, and a field full of an unknown grass. In the center was an altar made of wood, and behind it was a tall, wooded mountain.
I explained, “This is a prophecy type dungeon.”
Nate asked, “What’s that?”
“A kind of treasure hunt type dungeon. Within the boundary, metals are hidden, carved with the alien world’s characters. When they are gathered and combined at the altar, the rest of the sentences pop out, and the prophecy is completed. It is mostly about when, where, and which level of dungeon appears. It’s not an easy dungeon for a general Hunter because not only does the combination change every few days, but it also keeps disappearing and then appearing in different places.”
It was not too long ago that humanity, of the previous life, depended on the prophecy type dungeon. Angelica, the prophet, shared a much more accurate and detailed future-telling with humankind than the Book of Revelation. Of course, it was actually Han-Seol’s prophecy that Angelica had manipulated and used to imprison.
Hibiki frowned as if she didn’t understand, “It tells the Dungeon breaks in advance? ··· I guess it’s the system that designed all of these, right?”
“That’s right.”
She was lost in her thoughts for a moment, and then she continued, “I don’t know the purpose of it. If it’s the system that made the dungeon and the system intended to collapse…. Can’t it just stop the dungeons from opening or collapsing, rather than helping us with something like a prophecy?”
It was one of the topics that we agonized a lot in our previous life. Was the system something that made fun of humankind like a cruel deity? Or was it an intelligent creature that uses us for unknown purposes with a mysterious plan? I couldn’t figure out the answer. I thought my life had given me some answers: ‘When I was Awakened as Seo Jin-Wook, I saw them at the Altar of Trials… They were shaped with Mana. It was not a mechanical message. It said they were Ministry Spirits, serving a sentient being.’
I let go of my thoughts that filled my head, and spoke to Hibiki, “It’s clear that whatever the purpose of the system is, there’s no immediate intention of annihilating humanity. The prophecy proves it. Of course, we still don’t know whether all of this will ultimately benefit humankind or not.”
In my previous life, everything ended in vain. So, what would happen of Angelica had disappeared? Rather than worrying and guessing, I only tried not to repeat the same thing. That was the goal of this life. I moved my steps.
“Let’s go.”
Nate asked, “Where?”
I answered back as I pointed my finger, “Over there.”
There was a high mountain where the Gate Keepers Hunter warned us not to go.
*
“Squeaaal!”
The mountain was like an Orc field. I purposely let my two companions take care of it without interfering in the battle. Hibiki’s spell froze, burned, fried, and carved the Orcs. In the previous dungeon, Nate, who took a step back from the battle, was also as active as he could manage.
“Uhhhhh….!”
“Uhhh….!”
Zombies, who ran faster than Orcs, bit the monsters mercilessly. It was a completely different movement from the Dungeon Zombies, as noticed in the fight with the Trolls. Also, their bodies were much harder and more flexible than any other monsters. The bone blade, which popped out from the limbs, boasted efficiency beyond sword-type artifacts.
“Squeal!”