Chapter 73

Deal (2)

The ministry spirit sighed.

– Sigh…

She shook her head and said,

– You people, the desire of the mortal, is a very hard concept to understand. Why the hell are you so eager for?

For what? To survive, to be prepared. Seeing that it was classifying humans as mortals, did this mean that the spirit’s identity was immortal? I wasn’t sure, but I was a little upset to hear that.

‘Well, whatever I may feel like, I just have to get what I need.’

I asked as if to hurry her up, “What do you think? I think it’s a fairly fair and reasonable deal.” I was saying it with much boldness wrapped around my face. In fact, the story I just told her was a lie. Well, not a complete lie, but rather my subjective valued judgment? There is no conventional understanding or an international agreement that 10 SS-Class items were equivalent to one SSS-rated item.

I just said it without any basis.

‘In the beginning, there is no record of SSS-Class items being traded in this era just yet.’

Even though I knew for certain that what would return is a rejection, there was a good reason to risk it.

‘This should be the first and last time someone can make a deal like this in return for stopping a dungeon break below A-Class!’

A Hunter, who had similar experiences in my previous life, said that the system message added him a hint. That wouldn’t include any additional benefits for him in the future because of the gap in compensation at a difficulty lower than A-Class. In other words, to try this kind of deal again, he had to show similar performance on the breaks above the S-Class next time, which was next to impossible.

‘I had to do everything I could this time!’

The spirit looked at the Mana screen in front of her with a look of great annoyance. A few subsequent gestures follow. The diagram and Archid characters inside were quickly rearranged and create strings of texts like flowing water. Considering the general process, and ignoring the unknown words, was…

‘It’s kind of a simulation.’

The screen that the spirits see seemed to be connected to the ‘system.’ Assuming a situation in which 100 SS-class items were given to one Awakened, it checked the result of it.

‘It’s too lazy to argue with me, so she’s doing the math right away.’

The result came out immediately. The Archid word that popped up was very easy, so I understood it right away.

‘Impossible.’

The spirit spoke determinedly.

– What you asked for is an excessive reward. 100 SS-Class items are not of the same value as 1 EX-Class item. In the first place, item classes are not calculated by simple mathematics, and the criteria you gave are calculated to be accepted among the natives of that dimension, right? It’s impossible to impose a 100:1 value comparison here.

This much of the response was expected. I knew it wouldn’t work, so I just did it. I didn’t have to bend down from the beginning. Now it’s time to listen to the other party’s suggestion.

“Then, to what extent is it possible?”

– As suggested in the beginning, one SS-Class item, and if you tell me about the additional requirements, I will review them and accept the available ones.

She was robbing me. I clicked my tongue inside, ‘Rather than it only being able to do so… It’s just lazy for her to give me this and that!’

With the personality, I have encountered so far and concluding from the data that piled up, later on, the ministry spirit’s attitude was like a bureaucrat who was tired of excessive work and tried to resolve as possible.

‘That doesn’t mean that I have to back off immediately.’

The more I annoyed her, the more likely I’d get what I want. That was how they work every time.

“If 100 is too much. Let’s go with 50.”

Then the spirit’s eyes were filled with explicit emotions. If I had to put it in words, this would be the right description for it. She thought I was a pain in the backside.

– Ah…. Seriously…

She frowned heavily, but she couldn’t kick me out right away.

‘Only when she is done giving me the reward, by any means, and has to agree on the reward, could she get out of this place too!’

The guess turned to conviction.

– Wait a minute.

She didn’t even pretend to think or contemplate. Instead of finding a way, she immediately entered something on the screen and interpreted the result. After a few attempts were repeated several times:

– 10 SS-Class items. I recommend that you be satisfied with this much. How is that?

I had already checked the screen that the spirits saw, so I knew that there was still room for that counteroffer, even if I didn’t understand it 100%. I hit it back without delay.

“20 SS-Class items. All of them by my designation. And an additional request apart from the item.”

If she reduced 100 from 50 to 20, it was natural that she should pay a corresponding price.

– I’m not accepting the offer yet, but I’d like to hear what the additional requests are before we go further.

“When the tutorial is over, I know it’s possible to upgrade your unique skill or change them to a completely different kind.”

– How do you know that? That’s strange. That information can’t have been announced at this dimension yet.

“I have been in contact with an alien race who have been wandering in various dimensions.”

– ···So?

“My tutorial is not over yet, but I want to upgrade my unique skill at this point.”

Whether it was [Mana Drain] or [The Successor’s Eyes], it was a bigger win than acquiring a decent SS-Class item if any of the two’s performance could be increased.

But then.

– Impossible.

The spirit refused immediately without looking at the screen. I was calm because it was the reaction I had expected.

‘Supplying an EX-Class item is impossible. Upgrading my unique skill is impossible. What they have in common is that it’s not a choice until the tutorial is over.’

I asked, “You’re saying the end of the tutorial is such an important reference point? If so, even if I don’t upgrade it right away, can I know in advance what options exist in the future?”

The spirit sighed lightly.

– I’m not assigned to you in the first place. Compensation that I can give you can only be made within my authority.

I immediately changed my requirements, “Well, what about this?” So far, I’ve been requesting, well knowing that it would be impossible. But from now on, there was something that I was determined to receive.

“I want all the information about an Awakened with a unique skill called [Mercadius’ Seed].”

She made a strange face.

– ···If it has a skill of that name in the first place, the being wouldn’t be from your dimension.

It was consistent with the explanation of the immortal.

– In any case, I can’t access or intervene with someone’s unique skill. I don’t have the authority. The person in charge of that case will not be involved in this dimension until the tutorial is finished.

“Then let’s change the terms. I want information about an alien species that came to Earth at least before 2023 and had direct or indirect contact with me.”

Fifteen years ago, the original Seo Jin-Wook first experienced the symptom of the curse, so there was no need to consider those who had come to Earth since then. If the range was reduced as much as possible, it was focused under this condition.

“I am aware. The information about the Awakened of the dimension where the tutorial is in progress is protected.”

She wouldn’t answer if someone asks the ministry spirit for my information at the Altar of Trials.

But then.

“The name of the skill [Mercadius’ Seed] has a proper noun and means it has already been modified, right? The being I’m looking for must have completed the tutorial quest and should not be subject to information protection, yes?”

The spirit stared at me for a moment without saying a word. And, there was a slight frown between her eyes.

– I can’t refute that. You really know a lot of things.

And whispers softly.

– Oh, that’s a real hassle.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There we go!

– But I can’t give you all the information you want. It’s not my authority in the first place. I can extract a list of the Awakened beings who have already completed the tutorial, and their current location, which visited Earth before 2023. Do you accept?

That alone was a huge step forward. Since I was making a breakthrough with the situation where I had no idea where the curse originated, I wanted to know at least. However, I wanted to sing for the joy of it.

‘Before I put an end to it, I should get what I can.’

I didn’t mean to be satisfied with only this, “Then, 20 SS-Class items and the information of the Awakened according to the conditions I suggested. Do you agree?”

– No, wait a minute. I think you’re mistaken now, but I didn’t accept the condition of 20 items in the first place. Wait a minute.

She looked at the simulation again on the screen and said,

– Not 20. 10 for SS-Class. You can’t adjust the amount of the item any further.

That wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t solely the truth. There is still room for this offer. If I could manipulate the item, I could ask for something else.

“Well, I suggest it again.”

Now there was a look on the face of the ministry spirit that seemed to say, ‘What a disgusting human being!’ A sickening look. I said without hesitation, “10 SS-Class items. Provide the information I requested. Add one more… Give me the authority to receive the ‘Selection quest.’”

– ·······Have you heard the concept of the selection quest from the alien being?

I lied, “Yes, I have.” The concept of a quest was unfamiliar to humankind now, but in fact, all hunters were still performing the same kind of quest. The quest was named ‘Tutorial.’

‘Tutorial quests are quests shared by all hunters.’

The content was simple. When a dungeon opened, clear it, block the brakes, and become stronger. Everyone forgets because it didn’t provide an exact target, but we are all currently conducting the quest at this moment.

‘However, from the latter part of the tutorial quest, only a select few hunters would experience additional challenges.’

The system classified them as ‘chosen’ when they show outstanding capabilities and performance compared to other hunters. Such an Awakened is entitled to receive and perform quests shared only with individuals or minorities. If one succeeded, the individual gets a reward that others can’t get from an ordinary dungeon.

‘For example, the dagger that Angelica held in her previous life. Becoming Angelica’s attributed item, it was the only item that could break the dimensional bird’s egg and as a reward for finishing a personal quest.’

Come to think of it now. Angelica must have completed the quest and taken the dagger to gain control of the egg.

‘Since it’s a personal item, no one could break it as long as Angelica is determined not to break the egg. She created a situation where someone had to kill Angelica to take the knife away.’

Before that, she killed everyone on the other way around.

‘I need to be qualified before others for it to be advantageous.’

The spirit hesitated for a moment.

– That’s…

“Is that impossible too? It’s going to be in the tutorial anyway. Isn’t it a different story from EX-Class items and unique skill modifications?”

-That’s true, but I was thinking of starting the screening quest in a few years in this dimension. If I open the quest to only one person in advance…

She would not say that it was against fairness. In the first place, tutorial quests were made up to become stronger and weak ones would be left behind the wall.

The following words were as I expected.

– ········ getting a little annoying.

“It’s not impossible, is it?”

The spirit, looking at the screen, suddenly startled and screamed.

– Wait a minute!

It seems that it had noticed something.

– Oh, my God. Have I been here this long?! How long has it been?

I think it’s been less than 10 minutes from my point of view. But the spirit was frightened and fed up by it.

– Yes, yes, okay! All right! Let’s wrap it up here. 10 SS-Class items, information about an Awakened that meets certain conditions, and sharing a screening quest only to you in advance.

She glared at me as if she would not tolerate me anymore.

– Do you agree?

I didn’t think I should play any more tricks, ‘I’ll have to settle for this.’ I nodded my head, “I agree.”

The spirits rushed to type something into the screen.

– Then, we will proceed in reverse order of what you requested. I’ll give you your last request first.

Swish!

A cluster of light, like the stars, poured out of the sky and fell on the back of my hand. A blue flash illuminated and created a pattern on the back of the hand.

‘Mark of the Chosen!’

It was similar to the seal engraved on the body when I Awakened, but it was different. This is a kind of a secondary Awakening. I received the certification to access a kind of a main quest within the tutorial quest. As soon as I looked at it, I heard an automated message. It was not a ministry spirit, but the control cognition.

– A total of 108 quests are currently available for the user.

At this moment, I was the only one who could access this quest list on Earth.

Said the spirit.

– Now, the next… is an alien being that came over to Earth, right?

She kept grumbling.

– Ah…. This is such a hassle.

At that moment. Weing! The landscape around us changed at once.

‘This is!’ I had a cognitive impairment for a second then… I returned to normal due to the unique skill’s effect, ‘I see it now!’

The thing that suddenly appeared looked like seeing a part of the vast galaxy or the map of neurons that I saw in a book somewhere. Countless dots were spread out, and each of them was connected by a fine line, creating a net-like dense mesh.

I could see for sure what it was, ‘It’s a type of a map!’

It was a three-dimensional map that used all the surrounding spaces. I checked the center of the map that the spirits looked at. On the small dot she stared at, a long Archid text string was arranged, most of which were numbers. And the short word next to the number meant, ‘Earth.’ I felt goosebumps all over my body for a moment.

‘Oh, wait a minute. This thing right now?’

While the spirit was working, I was busy keeping this huge three-dimensional map in my eyes. If what I’m guessing was right…!

– Well, let’s see. That’s a lot more than I thought.

The spirit’s task was to observe the past record of interactions between the interconnected points. For example, the point marked Earth and the other point connected by a line has the word ‘Krashen’ written in Archid characters and the long number next to it. As the spirit gestured, additional text strings appeared above the line, describing the two points’ relationship. A physical passage between the two points was temporarily created in 2021, followed by the description that an Awakened being had crossed from ‘Krashen’ to ‘Earth.’

And before the Awakened crossed to Krashen, it was in another dimension connected to it, and the name of the dimension and the number beside it was clearly stated. There were several other similar cases.

‘I see!’

I understood the identity of the huge map that the spirit was looking at now.

‘This was a map of the coordinates and names of all dimensions… around the Earth!’