Chapter 115 (1/2)
A Dangerous Invitation (2)
The Chinese government press conference began at 11 a.m. based on Korean time and most people watching the video live expressed their negative views regarding the contents of the conference.
– LMAO, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets. Has China ever dispatched Awakened to another country when they called for help?
↳ Never except for that time they sent them to E or F-Class dungeon just to show off what they can do.
– But isn’t it rare to set up a multinational ace team in the first place and treating that dungeon in the same level as Siheung or Australia?
↳ They were both S-Class dungeons. In the case of C or D-Class, there are quite a few cases where people request help from foreign countries because countries with small populations cannot handle it by themselves. However, China isn’t one of those countries. They don’t need to set up an ace team, so pleading to send a few…
↳ Yup, and China has no history of sending aid to other countries in the first place.
– Based on what they’ve said so far, I can tell that they’re such a cunt… What makes them think other countries will send their hunters over to help them when they won’t even do the same?
↳ There’s just absolutely no way they would send SSS-Rank hunters as requested by China. It wouldn’t be beneficial for them.
↳ Even the Chinese would’ve questioned their decision. I think everyone will dispatch hunters below SS-Rank, then they’ll pressure China to fill up the shortage of workforce before entering the dungeon.
However, the reactions began to change due to the subsequent interviews. The Chinese spokesman was being interpreted simultaneously in each country.
– Oh, you just saw it? All foreign hunters who accepted the invitation will be given a core equivalent to 100,000 Mana storage.
It was announced that the cores, which were strictly prohibited from being transferred overseas in most countries, would be rewarded as compensation, and the rules would be lifted for that case.
– How many hundred billion won is that? Come on. It’s a little weak. Let’s demand more.
– Isn’t that just a couple hundred billion in the end? Come on, that’s a bit cheap. They should prepare more.
As if to meet expectations, the spokesman continued.
“And we plan to check the contribution rate among the ‘foreign hunters’ who participated in the dungeon exploration and give the artifacts separately prepared by the Chinese government to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd top contributors. The item will be used by Chinese hunters while exploring the dungeon. However, it’ll be distributed according to their contribution after the end of the Clear.”
The response wasn’t good until that story came out.
– LMAOOO, is this a prize of some sort? it’s a ridiculous idea.
– They must be relaxed after joining the ‘Murican club, huh?
However, the atmosphere changed in an instant when the spokesperson uploaded an evidence video.
– Oh, my God, there was an item like that?! That would make even the eyes of SSS-Rank hunters turn their eyes over!
It was a product prepared by China for invited hunters.
The Bracelet for third place was an S-Rank artifact that significantly increased defense power when equipped.
The SS-Rank item to be given to the second place was a magic sword, which had ten built-in S-Rank attack spells, allowing even untrained Awakened to use magic for as long as they injected Mana into it.
Both of them were meaningless items for Seo Jin-Wook and his group, but those rewards were enough to surprise other hunters.
-Oh my, look at the 1st place item.
Lastly, there was the 1st place prize that caught people’s attention around the world.
The content that was already identified by the Analysis scroll was disclosed to the media.
[Scepter of Ishad (Rank: SSS)]
– Item description: A scepter that can be equipped with seven properties rune stones. 40% reduction in spell casting speed and 35% reduction in Mana consumption during magic skill activation, full immunity to A-Rank or below abnormal-condition-materialization skills, 30% increase in magic resistance, and alleviation of potion shock symptom effect while in hand.
Everyone went wild.
-That’s crazy. It’s an SSS-Rank item!
*
“Guild Master Seo Jin-Wook, I plead you. Please reconsider!”
The Hunter Management Department persistently contacted me even after I hung up once and tried to reverse my choice.
When Secretary Kim came in, I had already delivered my statement to them.
I said that I’d accept the Chinese government’s invitation but that I wanted to put a condition on it.
I said that instead of just me, who was invited, Hibiki and Nate would accompany me.
“Minister, you don’t have to worry too much. I have a plan.”
“Guild Master, we are more concerned about China than about Dungeon monsters! And considering what will be announced at 3 o’clock in a little while, the national sentiment will be…!”
But they couldn’t bend my stubbornness in the end.
And after hours have passed since the Chinese government’s announcement, another shocking news swept the world’s media.
– Wow, I can’t take my eyes off the news all day!
– Is today some special day? LOL. I can’t get my head around it. Chinese SS-Class dungeons in the morning, Australian aliens in the afternoon?
-… Huh? Seo Jin-Wook’s picture is up. No way. Is he going to do it again in a while?
It was none other than news of an incident in the Australian dungeon.
– Oh, my God, Seo Jin-Wook is the most significant contributor… To the success of trading with aliens?!
↳ Did you just see the interview with the Italian hunter? The aliens boldly said that they want to keep talking to Seo Jin-Wook. LOOOOL.
↳ Woah, a man who even woos aliens. He’s got some class!
↳ So without Seo Jin-Wook, people on Earth can’t trade with them at all?
↳ Mmhmm, it seems so in this situation.
Then, naturally, people that interpreted the two shocking news stories in the morning and afternoon in relation to each other appeared.
– Wait, isn’t China going to invite Seo Jin-Wook?
↳ Isn’t Seo Jin-Wook still SS-Rank?
↳ Come to think of it. The announcement was a little weird. Why did they vaguely refer it to ‘hunters equivalent to SSS-Rank’? Instead of setting the bar to SSS-Rank. This is surely… because they kept Seo Jin-Wook in mind!
↳ Shouldn’t we stop Seo Jin-Wook? What if things go south?
The public opinion prevailed that I shouldn’t go, but I made my official statement through the Celestial Dragon Public Relations Team a few days later.
I publicized that I understood the people’s concerns, but I judged that China’s SS-Rank dungeon was a threat to Korea, as it was nearby, and that I would do my best to contribute to our country’s safety.
Soon after, the day suggested by the Chinese government arrived.
*
“Share quest.”
Paht!
– Quest Name: Verification of Qualification (1)
– Description: To climb the Tower of Choice, you must prove your qualification as a worthy Awakened. Successfully Clear an SS-Class dungeon in your world and secure more than 20% of the contribution rate.
– Rewards: from 1 million experience points based on contribution.
– This quest can also be shared with non-chosen.
“Huh?”
“… Something new really appeared.”
The eyes of Hibiki and Nate stared into space.
They’re looking at the system message that had just appeared.
“I shared the quest with you guys just now.”
In my eyes, I could see all the quests that the Earth’s chosen Awakened could perform. In total, there were over 100. It’s supposed to be done by several people simultaneously, so it was normal to reach that number.
However, Hibiki and Nate, who hadn’t been chosen yet, could only see the quests I shared.
“Now, then… Shall we talk?”
I explained it to both of them. To end the tutorial quest, we had to climb the structure called the Tower of Choice, and that I was thinking of the three of us as the members.
‘In my past life, five people climbed up.’
However, Randy was still a child who hadn’t even entered elementary school, and Angelica was already dead.
‘There was no entrants restriction on the tower. One person or even a hundred people can enter.’
The problem was that the difficulty scaled according to the number of entrants.
Five people entered back in my previous life, but only four people fought since I had no battle capability.
We conducted a lot of experiments on the lower floors of the tower at that time before proceeding to climb with the finalized five members of the chosen party.