Chapter 112 (1/2)

The First Deal (4)

I looked at the hunters with a glance that seemed to say, ‘What are you going to do about it?’

I then shrugged my shoulders as if to say, ‘Now that it’s like this, you can’t do anything about it, right?’

“Wait a minute!”

It was, of course, Greg who argued at that point.

“The only authority the governments have entrusted to us is to Clear the dungeons and receive compensation. Not to mention, I’m the one in charge of this expedition!”

Jeez, that stuck-up human.

I was starting to feel annoyed.

“Well, what are you planning to do?”

It was the other hunters who participated in the Clear that stopped him.

The first one to speak out was a hunter from Italy.

There were quite a few Gates in the ‘very unstable’ state, causing the Aurora of Stability to become desirable.

I remembered that he approached me and was desperate to steal information when we were camping yesterday.

He questioned Greg with a puzzled look on his face.

“Yes, you’re the expedition leader. I won’t deny it. But your command is limited to the dungeon Clear! That’s also putting aside your questionable contribution to it.”

When he pointed out that Greg’s command was virtually meaningless, Greg had his veins protruding around his neck, and his nostrils flared.

“Hey, are you suggesting a fight?!”

The hunter of Italy didn’t even pretend to hear it but continued what he wanted to say.

“And even if you are the expedition leader, you have no authority to trash the opportunity for humankind to interact with civilized aliens for the first time!”

“…!”

“Didn’t you hear that? They said they would give us the Aurora of Stability! If they could give us one, why would two of them be impossible? Don’t you think it’s an opportunity to place them in the skies around the world like Korea?”

I murmured internally.

‘Wrong, you got it wrong.’

There were strict restrictions on the export of that item in most worlds, and the limit for starting a deal was only one.

The same went for the species we had come into contact with.

‘It can’t be a trade item in the first place, but they at least allow for the practical reason that it’s necessary to keep the door open.’

However, I remained silent as I observed them. It wasn’t necessary to mention that knowledge.

“I agree as well!”

“Me too! Why do we have to flip the negotiating table when they’re acting favorably?”

Hunters from around the world had all opposed Greg’s opinion.

Everyone was in a hurry because of the Aurora of Stability, which was an unprecedented concern. With the Korean government and I keeping our mouths shut, they desired the item that they couldn’t even get a clue about.

And even if they wouldn’t be the one acquiring it, it seemed like they didn’t want to miss the first historical moment of dealing with aliens.

They seemed to be looking forward to a rake-off just in case.

Greg’s face turned redder as he heard the pouring criticism.

“… Damn it!”

He spat and then made a final counterargument.

“Wait, everyone’s being so complacent right now. Cool your head down and think about it. How can we trust those aliens?”

“What?”

“Isn’t this too coincidental? The timing suggests they waited outside the perimeter of the dungeon for us to clear it. And so did the cockroaches in New York!”

The aliens outside the boundaries, Egrasto, must be able to hear and understand our conversation. However, they remained silent about it.

I knew the reason behind it.

‘They wish to unify the communication channel with the Earth into one person, which was me. They don’t want to talk to several people in unison since that would only cause more headaches.’

I threw my voice toward the boundary.

“Egrasto, before we move forward, there seems to be something that we have to clarify.”

– Yes, please go ahead.

As expected, even though we hadn’t given a definite answer, that alien was already responding to only my words.

Everyone’s eyes were on me again, and I asked the alien, ignoring the rays the people shot at me from their eyes.

“Does your kind stand by all the dungeon boundaries this way? I want to ask the reason why you chose our dimension and waited. It wouldn’t have been a coincidence. The beings we have experience with are those who wanted to invade, regardless of the opponents.”

– That’s a reasonable question. We don’t try to make deals with all the Gates and the worlds connected to our dimension. In this case, our Pezra species knew about your dimension in advance.

“How so?”

I asked even though I knew the answer.

I wanted all the other hunters can hear about it.

Egrasto started to explain.

– You are aware of the species called the Botarchs, right?

“…?”

Question marks came upon the faces of the Awakened except for me.

– This is how they look like.

In our heads, the image that the other being sent popped up.

“… Cow?”

It only looked like a cow head to other Earthlings’ eyes, but they’re aliens familiar to my eyes.

– They are a barbaric race that lives in a third world, not on Earth, not on our own. It’s a species that belong among those that ‘tries to invade regardless of the opponent.’

“…”

– They used to come into Pezra’s dimension without knowing their place, but they were taught a lesson and ran away, and they were nowhere to be seen. And not long ago, they invaded our dimension again. There weren’t many, so I took them as captives and questioned them.

In the first place, the Botarchs weren’t at the level to challenge that species.

Nevertheless, the High Priest seemed to have followed my instructions faithfully.

– But they were equipped with these.

Another image appeared in my head.

I saw the Botarch upper-class’s favorite accessories made out of molten iron taken from Earth.

– It’s a mineral that doesn’t exist in our dimension. We haven’t seen it in Botarch’s past invasions as well. Therefore, it attracted a lot of Pezra’s attention, making us interrogate the prisoners.

They continued explaining what I had already finished observing through the [Door of Hope].

– It turns out, the source was… your kind’s dimension.

“…?!”

At those words, everyone once again made a confused expression.

They seemed to be asking how those never-before-seen cow heads took the Earth’s resources.

– We’ve heard that the Botarchs have given up their invasion and have retreated because of your dimension’s excellent response. Those ornaments were made of minerals that had been plundered before.

There was a growing commotion among hunters who didn’t understand the situation. ‘Botarch? Have you heard of it?’ ‘No, not at all.’ ‘Which country was invaded? And they fought, won, and even kicked them out?’

Thanks to the Chinese government’s complete control of information, hunters from other countries had never heard of it.

There were no Chinese there. Hence, only I knew of them among the party.

– That’s how we discovered your world, which is connected to the Botarch dimension. We looked for a passage so we wouldn’t have to go through one more dimension but rather would directly connect to Pezra. We have been waiting by dispatching a number of us to all the dungeons that meet the conditions. We thought it would be a good dealing opportunity.

Just by listening up to that point, anyone could grasp how advanced Pezra’s civilization was.

They had mastered the concept of dimensional coordinates and dimensional mapping that people on Earth couldn’t even fathom yet.

Of course, it would be only connected-to-the-neighborhood level, which was a limited area compared to the coordinates I saw and remembered.

“You’re saying that you need that mineral enough to take that much trouble?”

– Yes, we don’t know the name since it’s a nonexistent element in our world, but…

Shortly afterward, hunters seemed to understand the telepathic description of their appearance and character.

Someone muttered.

“That thing, doesn’t it look like iron?”

That mineral was common on earth.

The hunter from Italy couldn’t stand it and shouted over the boundary.

“If we provide that mineral, can we exchange it for the Aurora of Stability?”

– …

Egrasto didn’t reply.

The hunter then gave me a desperate look.

After nodding, I asked a question that I already knew the answer to.

– I’m sorry, that isn’t possible.

It explained that only one of that item could be provided in return for the transaction’s commencement.

– The Aurora of Stability cannot be an official trade item, but don’t be disappointed. Here are the special products that are our pride. These are well-received products in most worlds that we made a trade partnership with.

Right after that, a large amount of information flowed into our heads at the speed of light.

“Gasp!”

The hunters who were new to that kind of communication were unable to adapt easily, causing them to struggle.

Some of them stumbled momentarily.

‘Even for A-Rank and S-Rank Awakened, this kind of telepathy is just like a psychological attack.’