Chapter 72

Deal (1)

While Hunters, who formed the defense line, were outside the gate struggling with the confusion, Nate, Hibiki, and I were inside the dungeon, butchering the monsters.

‘It’s about the time someone should have noticed and sent someone inside the dungeon to take a look; they’re slow. This is what happens when the government takes control of the dungeon operations.’

Due to these shortcomings, I knew Hunters would take control of the break response team in the future.

‘This is the most effective way to respond to breaks that the location and the time are known in advance.’

Later, they will create a protocol as well. Logically, it would be much more efficient to catch monsters before they come to Earth than to kill them after they have crossed the gate. The sole reason the bureaucrats hesitated was due to nobody ever going beyond the red gate.

‘The entrant limit disappears as soon as it enters the break sequence. The message that indicates how many people are inside disappears as well.’

Therefore, the three of us waited nearby with stealth on and came inside as soon as the gate turned red. And the first thing we did in front of the plague giant, running rabid, was to make a trap. The traps I constantly repaired and created were still faithfully deterring the armies of monsters.

[Artha’s Sword Dance!]

Swift! Swish!

I drew the sword numerous times, front of the door that led to the Earth. As a result, the web-like mesh of sword energy was created. The net, which was woven with purple flashes, was still floating as it preserved the energy even after the sword stopped its movement. And when the giants reached there.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

Pat!

The accumulated destructive power and kinetic energy burst out in an instant. The giant, which tried to advance through the net, rolled with its whole body diced up. Perhaps because they already had undead properties, they couldn’t be made subordinates of Nate, so we didn’t have time to kill them neatly. As a result, the corpses became a mess and scattered everywhere.

“Uhh….!”

“Uhhhhh….!”

Zombie orcs scavenged around the body fragments. Nate’s order was for them to go around the battlefield and retrieve Mana cores.

Crush!

Boom!

They approached the broken giant’s chopped-up body, smashed the ribs, and tore the heart membrane.

Thusk!

They pulled out the Mana core quickly. The cores were piled up in the rear, and I absorbed them with [Mana Drain] while going in and out of the battlefield.

Swish!

‘I can’t hear my thoughts. It’s busy, so busy!’

I was the one who had the widest movement range and was busily moving the most in this dungeon right now. I spread the [Stardust Wing] and flew around nonstop. While I bombarded those rushing from the front with sword energy bullets and reduce their mass, I repaired the sword energy net that acted as a trap, and if it seemed like I was running low on Mana, I returned after absorbing cores.

While I was constantly moving, the other two didn’t move outside of the black net. But of course, it was not like they were playing around.

“The trap over there is broken down! Crush them all!

Kuaaaaaaaaa!

Nate had almost complete control of the undead dragon. Unfortunately, it was impossible to pull out 100 percent of his previous life’s ability. In particular, he could not reenact magic at all. But instead…

Kuaaaaa!

The Black Dragon, spreading its wings like a predatory bird trying to snatch up prey, descended toward the herd of giants. The giants were storming through an opportunity of a layer of the purple net that has collapsed. The dragon, which was flying low in that direction, extended its front feet down like an aircraft preparing to land. Maintaining close proximity as if it’s about to touch the ground, the dragon scratched the giants at the speed of flight!

Po-Po-Po-pow!

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Along the straight line drawn by the dragon, giants bounced from side to side as if to divide the sea. The sound of flesh being crushed quickly buried the scream. In the white waves that spread in pigtails, red streaks bloomed and mixed.

“Okay! That direction next!”

Instead of using magic, the dragon that had turned to an undead had a comparable… no, rather a strong body that reminded me of when it was still alive. It was the same as when humans and Orcs became zombified. Its performance transcended the normal idea of the undead, appearing as a dungeon monster.

‘Come to think of it, Nate’s Mana wouldn’t have been able to handle the undead dragon’s magic.’

Since the subordinate’s characteristics not having a core, it would have pulled all its needed Mana from the master. It wasn’t such a waste even if he couldn’t use its magic, as the dragon’s symbol remained.

Boosh!

The breath that is poured down towards the giants caused the gloomy sky to turn red instantly. Along the area where the flash crossed, the giants fell without leaving even a pile of ashes.

“Oh, the big guy just ran away! Hurry up and get him!”

Kuaaaaaaa!

While Nate’s controlled undead dragon plays a role in defending the rear and catching the running adult simultaneously, destroying those that had crossed the sword energy net.

‘If it’s about this much….’

As soon as I had a chance, I looked at the number of remaining giants and my colleagues’ performance. It’d only been an hour, and I could already see the end. Instead of letting the fast-moving giants disperse, the key was to use their instinct of rushing to the door to destroy them at once. It would have taken several days to track them down and catch every one of them if they had been allowed to roam around the world as in a previous life.

‘In the meantime, the number of casualties would have increased ridiculously. Since they sprayed spores just by breathing.’

That was the first reason I came all the way here in such a small number, instead of blocking the break outside, preventing a biohazard, which had killed tens of thousands of non-Awakened victims in the previous life.

And the second reason was about to appear in front of us.

“Huh?!”

After some time has passed.

“It’s over!”

Finally, we heard the message we had been waiting for!

– All monsters have been eliminated.

– The dungeon break will end.

– Be cautioned that the gate that connects to this dungeon closes automatically without using a key.

“Hurrah!” Nate joyfully yelled to the top of his lungs.

Hibiki, who was already on the verge of a Potion shock, collapsed on the floor. She, who always remained composed, must have been quite shaken, as she leaked an empty smile, this time, saying, ‘Haha… Ha…!”

‘They’ve done well.’

It was a battle close to the two’s limit. I had constantly observed and cared for them, but they’d faced a threat to their life several times. This experience must have been a stepping stone to a large growth for both of them.

And then.

– To all users who have contributed to preventing the dungeon break will be rewarded accordingly.

The gate would close by itself, and the boundaries had not been weakened, so the key to the dungeon was not given. All we could get was extra compensation. No matter how powerful the four major guilds may have been, the reason why they volunteer to make up the first line of defense was here.

‘Among the Break rewards, Hunter doesn’t have to choose from many options.’

The system selects the best option for them to receive within their contribution and gives it to the Hunter.

‘In other words, nobody loses!’

There was a reason why the price of the items worldwide fell exponentially after suppressing a dungeon break. Since all of them who participated would be given a definite reward based on their contribution, they become less rare.

– The user contribution ranking is No. 1 (contribution rate: 88%)

– Additional rewards are available according to your contribution. Do you want to accept it?

‘This is within my expected range.’

There was only one case in which an individual exceeded 50% of the break contribution rate in a past life. When a break occurred, it was not easy for individuals to make more than half of the contribution rate. As usual, about a thousand Hunters gather to build a defense line. But today, I ended up setting a new record, including all my past and present life.

“I will accept.”

I saw that each compensation appeared in front of Nate and Hibiki. But then.

“Huh?”

Nate asked me as he approached me, “What? Didn’t Jin-Wook get anything?”

I was not baffled by this situation. The phenomenon experienced by a Hunter, who barely passed 50 percent in his previous life, was just unfolding in front of me.

“I’ll take a while.”

The system message that only I hear had been changed to something abnormal from just a moment ago.

– (##################)!

It was a distorted and disturbed system message. I’d experienced this phenomenon before. On the day I Awakened as Seo Jin-Wook. The message now penetrating my mind clearly conveyed some meaning, but I couldn’t understand it right away. It felt like a part of my mind had become clouded.

– (##################)!

But then.

The phenomenon did not last long.

– [The Successor’s Eyes (Rank: EX)] Detects interference with this force.

– Attempt to recover filtered semantic fragments. ···Recovery complete!

The meaning of the system message has now normally flowed into my head a tempo late. The message was actually telling this:

– (A* 150-grade contribution 88% confirmed. Spent time 1 hour, 12 minutes and 45 seconds. ··Error! Error!)

– (According to regulations No. 29-42-19048 ‘Compensation Evaluation Process According to Dungeon Break Response Contribution Rate’ and regulations No. 18-1-00921 ‘Dimensional Item Supply Criteria for Quest Progress Rate,’ a conflict is confirmed.)

– (Decisions to correct this error are beyond the control cognition’s autonomy. Requesting to summon the ministry spirit!)

When I checked the message, I sang joyfully to myself.

‘All right!’

I think what the Hunter in the past life experienced will follow soon. I told the two of them.

“I think I’m going to disappear for a while and then come back. Just like when we were attacking the dungeon.”

The look on the faces of the two people showed they couldn’t understand. According to what they studied, a Hunter doesn’t have to choose break compensation. So, they wouldn’t understand why I was going to be summoned.

“For more information, I’ll explain when I…”

Even before I was done talking…

Swish!

I was summoned there.

‘There you go!’

I was surrounded by darkness in the blink of an eye. It was a space full of dense darkness.

I’d experienced two similar places like this. One was the Altar of Trials that I visited as soon as I Awakened, and the other was the space to select additional rewards after Clearing a dungeon.

However, there was no silver altar here, and there were no white lights that surrounded me like the stars of the night.

‘If I wait like this, I will hear another message again. In a form that anyone can understand.’

However, the message my previous life received here was not general and mechanical telepathy. It was a more ‘human’ message, as I heard when I first Awakened, by the standards of the Earth’s people.

‘To hear such a message means that I will see that being again!’

A few seconds of waiting made my prediction a reality.

Swoosh!

The black air opened, and a woman’s body, glowing blue, appeared—a body shaped with Mana. At the same time, the system message rang.

– I’m sorry to keep you waiting so long. Something unexpected happened. To explain briefly what the user is currently experiencing…

Floating in the dark were screens of different shapes float wrapped around her. The woman-shaped being looks at one of the screens seriously.

I remembered. She called herself the ‘Military Spirit.’ Her eyes widened as if she had found something on the screen. The head turned, and our eyes met. The system message followed the movement of her lips and spoke in my head.

– What, it’s you again?

*

There was a strange silence between us two. What lingered in my eyes now was a little anticipation. On the other hand, there was an explicit feeling of annoyance in the eyes of the Spirit.

– You’re a being of many strange cases in ways. Your name is… Seo Jin-Wook?

This is the first time in history that a system message directly mentioned Hunter’s name. They are usually referred to only as Summoner and User.

‘Does she mean that it’s an exceptional case that she had to check my name? From that Spirit’s point of view, that is.’

However, right after making such a short comment, the Spirit turned its annoyed gaze back to the screen. The wall made of blue Mana was filled with Archid characters. I could simply read them and distinguish the shapes with my knowledge, but there were too many words I didn’t know. They weren’t words that I’d forgotten but were words I never learned in the first place. For now, I made myself store the shapes in my head using [The Successor’s Eyes].

– Anyway, I’m busy, so I’ll explain it quickly and briefly. The reason why you were summoned and why you met me here is simply because I couldn’t give you items that fit your contribution on the break.

I didn’t have to reveal that I had heard all the censored messages, so I quietly listened. This meant that it could not give items with the automated message’s authority or ‘control cognition.’

– Your grades are abnormally high. In the first place, it wasn’t the level of difficulty set for a single individual to get this grade. Anyway, you had a contribution rate of 88%, and the time it took was extremely short, so the expected compensation rating went up very high. But the problem is….

I knew. Whether someone clears the A-class dungeon or blocks the A-class break, the limit of compensation is the next higher grade. The compensation rank limit I can receive is SS-Class. However, according to a different standard from that, it concurred my contribution should be higher than the SS-Class.

‘Because my performance broke through the difficulty they set.’

Something of theirs called the operational regulations were conflicting with each other. I guessed what the Spirit would say.

‘It would say that although it is a grade that is right for me to receive an SSS-Class reward, it is not available by the regulations, right?’

However, the words that returned were not what I expected.

– Items that match your grade cannot be supplied at the dimension where the tutorial is still in progress.

What’s that supposed to mean?

‘It’s different from what the Hunter had heard!’

Although they are of limited amount on Earth, SSS-class items will be released in the past or the present life. Therefore, the item that the Spirit was talking about wasn’t SSS-Class, but a class higher item than that.

‘If it’s after the SSS-Class, it’s the EX-Class!’

In the past life, humankind learned about the concept of EX-class by discovering an EX-class skill. EX-class items had never been found on Earth.

‘Wait a minute, then, if I everything···.’

It wants me to bug off with receiving an SS-Class item instead of receiving an EX-Class item. Contrary to my expectations, the value of items I have to give up had gone up a notch.

– So, I’d like to give you an SS-Class item at the discretion of the power given to me and at the same time give you an additional reward. By any chance, is there anything you are hoping for?

So far, it was in line with the direction I was aiming for. In the first place, I was going to make a deal with the system by increasing my contribution rate abnormally high for this break. However, if the price to give up was an EX-Class item, I think I should have asked for more than I originally planned.

‘No, wait a minute. Before I decide like that!’

Let’s test the water one more time, “If you mean an item that can’t be released in the tutorial, I think you might be referring to an EX-Class.”

– ····You know the concept of it. Yes, that’s right. But I can’t give you this.

“What if I made extra results? Or would it be possible if I overcome ‘the ordeal’?”

The Spirit was determined.

– No, no condition is possible. The principle that one can’t release an EX-Class item in a tutorial is an absolute regulation.

I clicked my tongue inside. Damn! Given the existing case, the thing was impossible once the system message said that it was impossible.

‘By the looks of it, it looks that it is annoyed to death. I should get what I can scrape up from this as much as possible before I agitate her even more with the EX-Class item.’

Therefore, I threw a deal that was a steep upgraded from the request I had originally prepared.

“Right now, among humankind, SSS-Class items are valued for ten or more SS-Class items. Then, EX-Class could be valued as 10 of SSS-Class items, right?”

– No, wait a minute. Stop there. That’s hard. I understand what you’re trying to say.

I went on without caring about it, “Then, in the condition that I would receive an SS-Class item instead of the EX-Class item, I’d like to receive 100 of them, by my choice.”

Unless the word ‘never’ was mentioned, I had to give it a go.