Chapter 113

The First Deal (5)

A few days after returning home, I was having a meeting at the Blue House.

The participants were the president, the foreign affairs minister, the Hunter Management minister, and me. Only those four people.

It was a secret meeting that was made completely unknown to the public.

“At a ministerial meeting where representatives from each country gathered, Korea’s stake was finalized at 75 percent.”

Listening to the foreign affairs minister, I nodded my head.

He was referring to the meeting held by representatives of governments from 12 countries who participated in Australia’s last dungeon expedition.

They decided to keep the fact that they had contact with aliens in the dungeon as a secret for the time being. They were careful not to leak the news to countries that didn’t send explorers, as well as the press. That was because they were concerned about possible accidental scenarios. The official announcement was scheduled after the first deal was safely and properly completed.

Therefore, the expedition team hunters kept their mouths shut, and the government officials from the 12 countries contacted each other secretly to coordinate the details.

“75% is a little over 2,000 tons.”

Egrasto expressed his desire to buy 3,000 tons of steel in his first deal.

When considering the global daily trade volume, it was easy to prepare such supplies. It was of a scale that any country could prepare alone.

‘It would have been too much to push for all 3,000 tons to be supplied from Korea.’

The desire of each government would be the same. If possible, supply all 3,000 tons of goods from their own country and monopolize the trade products it would receive in return.

Considering the Celestial Dragon Guild’s performance in the dungeon, South Korea deserved to demand that much. Still, in the end, it seemed that they agreed at around 75% in consideration of the relationship with other countries.

The remaining 25% was shared among the remaining 11 countries.

Knowing the deal itself would be impossible if I didn’t come forward, they also agreed that Korea would take up that much volume.

‘The whole world needs to be ready to prepare for the main quest anyway. There’s no point in Korea’s monopoly. They can share that much.’

Instead, it was necessary to take the most efficient method.

“Then… As the Guild Master advised, the commodities that our government will demand in exchange will be all in the form of metal called ‘Admanterium.'”

The list that Egrasto showed as a mental wave was a mixture of items that would benefit humankind and things that would not. There was no prior information about us, so they prepared every type because they didn’t know what we would like. They focused on popular products as well.

Among them, what I selected and advised to be traded with was Admanterium.

“And as we promised with you, Guild Master, we will transfer the entire volume to the new JD Corp. lab in Korea.”

“Yes, thank you.”

JD Corp. wais the name of a J/V company jointly invested in by Celestial Dragon and Danton Corporation. It’s made by taking my name and the Senator’s initials.

The president raised a question with anticipating eyes.

“The substance is a catalyst for stabilizing the Mana core, you said?”

“According to my interpretation of telepathy, yes.”

Although actually, it’s something I had known from before.

“It’s said to be a material that can dramatically increase the energy production efficiency of Mana core. Well, I’m sure our researchers will need to take a closer look at it for more information.”

Mana cores contained enormous energy compared to density and would explode when pressure and heat were applied to them above a certain level. Using its properties, I wiped out the Ersmanns in the dungeon before, and some of the weapons used by hunters were bombs made of cores.

However, under particular pressure, cores would emit long periods of high heat instead of exploding. Power plants produced electricity from that heat energy. Thanks to that, cores had replaced fossil fuels and nuclear power entirely. That was because there was no emission of hazardous substances in the power generation process, and the efficiency was overwhelmingly superior.

That superior power generation efficiency could be further increased by several times using Admanterium.

The material was also an essential key to upgrading the quality of mass-produced artifacts.

“That would be the biggest revolution since the Cataclysm.”

The president’s face was filled with a bright smile.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Guild Master. You’ve done something massive for your country once again.”

“I’m flattered. I’m concerned that our researchers will have to make an achievement as soon as possible.”

Of course, they would finish research and experiment irrationally quickly and figure out how to apply that new material to the current construction methods.

Through my help, that was.

“By the way, can you meet the deadline?”

I couldn’t do everything, including the collection of steel, so I had left that to the government.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade nodded with a confident look.

“Don’t worry about it.”

*

When foreign countries heard our decision, they also showed a tendency to concentrate on Admanterium. They were sure my advice would have influenced that decision, and they were convinced that we didn’t choose it for no reason.

Although their country’s hunters couldn’t pick it up properly, they seemed to believe that I would be different.

Meanwhile, what the Pezra species demanded was not iron ore but processed steel, and they were airlifted from Indonesia because there were no steel mills in Australia.

It was common sense for raw iron materials to be transported by sea due to their weight, but governments had mobilized dozens of transport planes to meet the delivery date. It was said that it would be the first time in human history that such a large amount of steel would be transported by aircraft.

“How come it’s getting hotter?”

On the day when both sides agreed to exchange goods, hunters worldwide entered the Australian Gate and headed for the dungeon boundary, each with a roll of steel coils.

Dozens of tons of weight was a piece of cake for hunters of A-Rank or higher, but the reason why most hunters were soaked in sweat right at that moment was because of the temperature.

The temperature was soaring enough even for their bodies to react. The closer they approached the boundary, the more prevalent it was.

“[Heat Resistance (Rank: SSS)]”

When Hibiki, who was walking with a bunch of coils floating using psychokinesis, quietly cast a spell…

“Oh, it’s definitely better.”

“Thanks!”

Appreciation poured out from all over the place. The wizards must’ve guessed the identity of the spell, so they made an expression that seemed to say: ‘Indeed…’ They must have been convinced that it was an SSS-Class spell after experiencing the effects.

“There it is to meet us.”

In front of us was the boundary of a dungeon that obscurely distorted the color and shape of a being.

Beyond that, dozens of aliens could be seen in a blurry manner.

“So, that’s what they look like. But I think the heat is coming from beyond.”

Someone got it right.

It was so hot because of the body temperature emitted by the aliens gathered there.

“It’s not clear, but they look strange even at first glance.”

“Hey, didn’t flame just come out of their nostrils?”

The Pezra were not carbon but silicon-based creatures.

In their body, molten metal flowed instead of body fluids. Their bones, organs, and muscles were composed of hard alloys.

– You’d better stop there. Our body temperature may be too much for humans.

A familiar mental wave flowed out. It was Egrasto.

– Mr. Seo Jin-Wook, long time no see. I have prepared the trade items you mentioned in advance. At the same time, we should push it across the boundary.

Upon receiving the signal, Hibiki was handed a steel coil from all the rest of the expedition team members and pushed it straight toward the weakened boundary. Although it was for a short time, everyone’s faces were shocked to see her handling thousands of tons of weight.

– Here it is.

The other side also sent the Aurora of Stability and the promised quantity of goods toward our dungeon.

As the two sides’ products intersected…

Egrasto spoke.

– Thank you. I hope we can maintain a stable trade alliance between the two dimensions.

As soon as the meaning he emanated permeated.

Paht!

A system message appeared in front of me.

– QUESTION COMPLETE!

– Quest Name: First Regiment

– Description: Contribute to the establishment of alliances in conjunction with other dimensions in the tutorial’s progress.

– Rewards: 500,000 Experience Points have been awarded to the user!

‘Wow!’

I was internally amazed.

The lowest reward for that quest was 100,000. The amount was five times that point.

– Thank you again for the successful transaction.

Egrasto greeted me.

– After the clinical trial, we will have a chance to buy more. I look forward to your kind cooperation.

A hunter murmured in wonder.

“… They’re going to perform a clinical trial with lumps of iron?”

It was a natural question since they didn’t know that they purchase iron for medical purposes, such as dissolving it, mixing it with other substances, and injecting it into the body.

Dissolved steel functioned as medicine to them.

‘This isn’t the end. Now the linked quests I have are…’

As soon as I thought about it, the message comes to mind.

– Quest Name: First Regiment (2) – Learn from those who have gone further first.

– Description: The Pezra are believed to have already carried out significant progress on tutorial quests. Hear from them a clue as to how to end the tutorial.

– Reward: 100,000 experience points.

The contents were more detailed according to the current situation.

The meaning of ‘gone further first’ was evident.

‘Pezra has already summoned the Tower of Choice and is in the progress of Clearing it.’

The system was telling us to get information from them and attempt the same thing at our dimension.

If I didn’t know anything about the Tower of Choice, the quest would’ve been meaningful as well.

But…

‘I already knew that, and I’ve talked to Adam about this keyword. Still, such quests are triggered just like in the past life.’

It was as expected.

‘I guess the system can’t track my memories or my every movement. It just carries on the process mechanically like a pre-populated program.’

– … Hmm.

Meanwhile, Egrasto, beyond the boundary, turned its gaze towards the air as if it had found something.

It was a gesture that it’s reading the system’s messages.

A quest must have also been delivered to him simultaneously since Egrasto was also a chosen Awakened in that world.

I took the lead.

– From now on, let’s talk in this way.

I sent a mental wave to Egrasto.

It was in the form of whisper-like telepathy that focused on only one person so that it wasn’t delivered to others.

Then, the alien responded in the same way.

– All right. Our screening quest list has just been updated. I think the same thing happened to Mr. Seo Jin-Wook’s world’s quest list.

I replied.

– That’s right. It says to ask your kind, the Pezra species, about the method of ending the tutorial.

– What came up on our list was to teach your species that. It’s great luck that I met you. The transaction was carried out neatly, but I also earned experience points with these simple quests.

The system gave quests to both races with clear intent.

He continued his words with a sense of satisfaction.

– The method is simple. In order to finish the tutorial, you need to clear the structure called ‘Top of Choice.’

After that, it was an explanation that I knew all about, but I listened without interrupting.

While the conversation continued instantly at the speed of thought, other hunters did not notice any signs.

Then-

– QUESTION COMPLETE!

– Rewards: 100,000 Experience Points have been awarded to the user!

Since it was a simple quest like an event, the reward was small, and of course, had no bonus.

And…

Paht!

‘Okay, it’s finally up.’

– 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.

It was the quest I was waiting for.

*

“Attack you, Jin- Wook?”

“Yeah, do it with maximum possible firepower.”

After handing over all of Korea’s secured supplies to J/V from sharing the traded prize received from the Pezra species according to each country’s shares, I headed for the dungeon.

The purpose was to test the effects of the item.

Woong!

[Mass-produced Energy Suit: Imperial Combat Officer Type (Rank: SSS)]

That kind of dungeon was perfect for work that the training room in the house’s basement couldn’t handle.

When I activated the item, a shallow light surrounded my body.

Nate looked at me with worried eyes.

“You’re not… gonna die, are you?”

Hibiki muttered in a way that seemed to say he was worrying about a meaningless thing.

“It’s better to worry about the Earth being doomed before that.”

From her perspective, it must have been a joke, but it was a below-the-belt remark for me.

Nate continued with a grim look.

“If Jin-Wook dies, I’ll miss you, so I’ll turn you into my subordinate…”

“I refuse. And don’t worry. I won’t die.”

“Then… All right.”

Swish!

When Nate gestured, a giant shadow overcast all of us.

The giant undead dragon covered the sky.

“Should we start with Breath from the beginning?”

“Yeah. Even if the item can’t stand it, I have a plan, so don’t worry and shoot.”

“Alright.”

After receiving confirmation, Nate gave the dragon an order.

Kwaaaaaa!

The explosive flames spewed out by the undead dragon swept around me.

Boosh!

After the hot air that burned the air and the currents of the flame swept through the earth…

I murmured with admiration.

“Oh, that’s really useful.”

Nate swept away his sweat as he saw me standing still without a single burn.

Hibiki, who didn’t seem to be worried in the first place, stared at me with a calm look.

‘I thought it would consume some Mana if I blocked this attack of this intensity with a normal barrier… This method is much more efficient.’

Of course, it was true that the amount of consumption couldn’t be handled by the general Awakened’s Mana capacity because the blocked damage was quite a lot.

But it’s much more efficient than pouring it in raw.

[Inferno (Rank: SSS)]!

[Greater Force Wave (Rank: SSS)]!

[Chain Lightning Buster (Rank: SSS)]!

Hibiki also fired SSS-Rank magic of various properties, but my body’s shield kept me safe without a shake.

“Now, then.”

I did the last experiment myself.

Woong!

I swung the devil’s sword a few times in the air after injecting Mana into it.

After keeping Hibiki and Nate far away, I instilled a pulling force in the purple afterimage in the air.

As I did that…

Shhh!

Boo-boom!

A storm of sword energy drove toward me, and the air exploded with a roar.

The intense energy exploded in the short distance.

But then.

“… Huh.”

Nate looked at me with a dazed face.

Again that time, the defense remained perfect.

“Okay, that’s handy!”

While I mumbled satisfactorily-

‘… By this, you became an even more awful monster.’

The devil’s sword grumbled as if it didn’t like what was going on.