Chapter 155

The Supreme Commissioner Meeting (1)

“What?! Did you say it was taken care of with this battle force? All the more… an atypical?”

An unfamiliar voice was translated with interpretation magic and rang in my ears.

Three new aliens had appeared.

I could hear them talking more about something, but I was so distracted by something else that I didn’t even look at them.

After checking the message about the quest completion and the points, there was another visible change.

The object I was paying attention to at that moment was a particular item that combined with my soul.

[Orb of Immortality (Rank: ???)]

-Item Description: It is a spiritual artifact that deviates from the constraints of the material world. If it’s coupled with the user’s soul, forced separation can cause severe damage to the astral body.

– The more the user reaps another life with its own hands, the more energy one charges inside the Orb. After charging it 100%, the user will be able to activate the item at any time.

– From the moment the item is activated, the user is freed from the circle of death.

– Beware that if the user dies while the item is not activated, this Orb will disappear naturally.

-Current Spiritual Power Charged: 24%

I was certain I remembered it correctly.

Just before the hunt began, the charged percentage was 10%.

The result of killing so many monsters while Clearing the Tower of Choice all the way to the 100th floor was only worth 10%.

But at that moment…

‘It went up by 14% at once?!’

I had never experienced such an exponential rise.

If I were to guess why… Perhaps it was because the monster we just defeated was that powerful?

I shook my head.

‘No, it’s still too much.’

The monster was indeed formidable and had a powerful skill…

It was hard to say that it was considered equal to the hundreds of thousands of dungeon monsters I had slain.

‘A “revised rate” must have been applied for this.’

I couldn’t help but think that the intention of the item’s creator was hidden in that phenomenon.

Perhaps if one killed monsters that appeared from the Red Gate, the charging rate would rise exponentially.

Of course, it’s a scenario I never wanted, but I had to give it some thought.

What if there’s an Awakened who wanted to invoke the [Orb of Immortality] swiftly no matter the cost?

What if someone who wanted to become immortal by charging it to a 100% learned of such a way?

From that point, he would naturally be eager to hunt and kill only the Red Gate monsters.

I could see what “Rom,” the god of life, was promoting.

‘The monsters that appear from beyond those red doors seem to be getting the hatred of the gods. Conservatively speaking, at least the god of life wants them to be captured and destroyed.’

At first, I expected that it would take a minimum of a few months to a maximum of a year for the Orb to be fully charged.

It was evident that through such a method, time would be much shortened.

‘Though that doesn’t change anything from the original plan.’

My commitment to not triggering it even if the Orb got fully charged remained unchanged.

While I was lost in such thoughts, the three newly emerged aliens seemed to have identified the scene and received brief explanations from Gorangsha and Tongels.

They finally learned about what happened and the story behind it.

“What? Earthlings?!”

The species that fought with us made a statement to them with excitement and horror.

The content shocked the listeners as well.

“You mean that those humans led and hunted the worth 20 million experience points, too?!”

After hearing the words they exchanged, I could tell who the three were.

They were Elite warriors dispatched urgently by the Union Headquarters.

They had obtained the rescue request sent by the Gorangsha race and sent them in return.

Only then did I get a little nervous after looking at their faces.

That was because the powerful force wriggling in their Mana Core was visually overwhelming.

‘Those are the strongest aliens I’ve ever seen!’

Currently, my active Mana was 500,000.

Of the three that appeared before us, two of them were about the same level as me.

In other words, it was interpreted that with my current active Mana level, I was qualified to be an Elite warrior.

But the one in the middle was of another level.

‘That’s enormous.’

He was the shortest of the three.

He didn’t even reach my waist.

Since his skin and muscles seemed to have translucent properties, even though I didn’t use vision magic, the movements of his blood vessels and organs could be observed.

In particular, the wriggling motion as the blood was supplied to the brain made me feel like I was looking at a jellyfish carrying organs inside its gelatinous body.

However, what caught my eyes more intensely than the grotesque appearance was, of course, his core.

‘That’s more than 1.5 million.’

When I met a strong being, I habitually ran simulations in my head.

Would I be able to win if we fight against each other?

‘If I use my unique skill and various general skills, I can deliver a fatal blow, but it might not be enough to kill him, and I’ll die as well. All I can do must be to catch him off guard and kill him before it leads to a long war or to run away before that.’

I realized it once again.

I still had a long way to go.

He looked attentively at me and murmured.

“If it’s Earth… Ah! It’s the new dimension that recently got four Elite warriors killed.

Bachurka had once mentioned it to me.

Four agents were said to have been mobilized to hunt Mercadius.

They were talking about the Elite warriors, after all.

Having listening closely to the aspects of the battle that factored in the outcome, he nodded.

“… There’s no other choice but to believe it. Look, the quest for the Red Gate here is gone from the Main Quest list!”

The quest wouldn’t disappear even after the Gate that threw up the monster had closed.

Only until the monster died would it be removed from the list.

“I mean, well, it saves us the hassle since it’s already solved, but…”

He looked at me and continued talking.

“Well, I know my introduction is late, but… Nice to meet you. My name is Lapress. You might have guessed, but I’m an Elite warrior of the Union Headquarters. And you are?”

Lapress’s eyes were full of curiosity.

It was right after he had heard that I showed the most crucial performance among the Earthlings.

“I’m Seo Jin-Wook.”

He spoke with a burdensomely intense gaze.

“I’ll get straight to the point. If what I’ve heard is true, you deserve to be chosen as an Elite warrior for the Union. What do you think? I’ll recommend you to the headquarters. Why don’t you take the steps measuring combat power to become a warrior?”

Then he handed out carrots.

To be exact, expectations about the quality and quantity of carrots.

“The offer that the Union hands to the Head Warrior is never known to the public. On the contrary, it means it’s that controversial, considering no one else should ever know.”

“…”

“No matter what people expect, it’s more than that. It’s such a waste that a skilled man like you is tied to the hometown level. Don’t you want to work for the Union?”

Of course, it was an offer not even worth considering.

My current move was solely focused on saving Earth from destruction.

Proceeding with the quest and getting points was all part of that as well.

However, if I moved under the Union Headquarters, I would’ve had to follow their orders, so my priorities must be revised.

No matter how delicious the offered feed was, I didn’t intend to wear a leash.

I should speak with my intentions wrapped well.

“Hmm, yeah?”

Lapress made an expression that he was disappointed.

“Then, there’s nothing we can do.”

He thought about it for a second.

“… But it’s weird. How did the Union not recognize this kind of talent and not offer you a job yet?”

At that moment, the alien standing next to him whispered a few words to Lapress.

He had been flinching several times as if he was looking at the timing to intervene and finally had succeeded.

As he did that…

“…!”

Lapress looked very agitated, hearing words that I could only wonder about.

“What?!”

His pupils shook mercilessly.

The exposed areas outside and the entire eyeball buried under the translucent skin were visibly shaking with the optic nerve.

It was a bizarre sight that I knew I wouldn’t get used to even if I kept looking at it.

In that state, Lapress’s eyes were toward my finger.

‘Now, he must have heard about “the fact.”‘

Keeping his eyes fixed…

Lapress spoke with minutely vibrating lips.

“Ha, hahaha! Hahah! I-I see!”

Awkward laughter.

“You… had been chosen by a great being! Then there would have been no way that the Union would offer you to join the Elite warriors.”

Then he leaned back as if he wanted to be as far away from me as possible.

It was a gesture that could have been offensive to me, but I read ‘fear’ rather than ‘disgust’ in that action.

‘Is it that reaction because he heard about Igras-Sho and the sacred wound?’

That glance had the feeling of seeing me as a bomb about to tick off.

“T-then… We’ll get moving!”

In a flurry, they performed teleportation again and disappeared.

Euclid murmured as if she just witnessed something weird.

“What’s wrong with him?”

After the Elite warriors left as if they were fleeing from battle, only then did the remaining aliens came to us and thanked us properly.

It was the commander of the Gorangsha people, the natives of the world, who spoke first.

“Thanks to you, we were able to live. We sincerely thank you.”

He showed his respect and continued.

“Did you say you were Mr. Seo Jin-Wook? It was an impressive sword performance. So you’ve been chosen by a god… Is that the source of that extraordinary power? Oh, excuse me. You don’t have to answer if that’s a sensitive question. Anyway, we were all amazed at the scene of you driving the monster to a corner.”

The way they responded to the fact that a god chose me differed depending on the party.

Unlike how Lapress reacted violently and fled away, the Gorangsha race admired it.

Then, after a few more words of proper greeting, he went to the point.

It was an undeniable fact that we had saved them in that crisis.

And according to the information I heard from Adam, the Union’s member dimensions thoroughly took care of their debt in that kind of situation.

It was considered a virtue for both parties to show a clean and immediate attitude to take care of the debt as thoroughly as possible.

Was it said that it was one of the Union bodies’ secrets to existing for a long time or something?

However, that time, the system made a wrong prediction, and neither the Union Headquarters nor any other member made a mistake, so there was no grudge to be solved.

All that’s left was to return the favor.

“We mean to reward you for saving us. Is there anything you want? We will return the favor with everything at an appropriate level, except for experience points.”

As I guessed, I didn’t think they planned to reward with points, and they meant to replace it with an appropriate gift.

But the problem was that I didn’t know much about the Gorangsha race.

About what the most valuable thing they had was.

As I looked like I was contemplating, the commander of the Tongels, who was waiting for his turn, intervened.

“Can I give you a piece of advice in goodwill? The specialty of their species is Gorangsha Oil. If I were you, I’d choose that.”

Then, the Gorangsha species quickly nodded as if they agreed.

The soft horns above his head, resembling a deer’s, wavered as he moved.

“Yes, ‘Gorangsha Oil’ is our dimension’s pride.”

Oil?

I asked.

“What is that?”

Then the deer answered determinedly.

“It is the best aphrodisiac in the universe.”

“…”

I thought I misheard.

“The biggest advantage of the products we produce is a versatile application. Any species can use it to experience a powerful effect. It’s not a product that is priced at ten thousand points for a single drop for nothing.”

Did someone buy a single drop of aphrodisiac for ten thousand points?

I thought they were lunatics.

“Sensory thresholds that are numbed by the long life expectancy and stimulation of the Awakened are bound to lead to ennui. If you can buy happiness for 10,000 points, it won’t be considered expensive. In fact, it’s more of an item you can’t buy because there isn’t much. What do you say? If you want, it could be the payment…?”

I shook my head and cut his words.

I wouldn’t choose an aphrodisiac for a reward for that situation unless I were shot in the head.

“How about that weapon?”

What I mentioned as an alternative was the fine metal particle artifact they were manipulating.

“Huh? Are you picking that, leaving the Gorangsha Oil behind?”

Their expression looked like they couldn’t understand my choice, but I finally pushed through with my intention.

The Gorangshas promised to ship the new product to Earth instead of the damaged one.

Next was the Tongels.

“It’s the same for us that we can’t hand you the experience points straight because of the racial regulations. Instead, if you want anything, we’ll find it no matter how rare and sell it at an extremely low price.”

I wondered what stubbornness it was to give it at a discounted price instead of giving it for free, but it seemed like it was their pride as a merchant race.

Anyway, I said what I had thought before because it was enough to get a discount.

“I’d like to get these materials in bulk.”

As he listened to the list of items, the starfish in the fishbowl quickly noticed the intention.

“Yes, I’ve heard the rumors. You’ve already got one of those [Tactical Fortresses], even though the dimension had just finished the tutorial? I do not know how such a thing could happen… but since it was already observed…”

If so, he would’ve assumed that we had the [Imperial Tactical Fortress Construction Kit (Rank: EX)] to build a fortress as well.

Only one infrastructure could be built during the tutorial period, no matter the number of materials we had…

‘However, the restrictions have been lifted now.’

As the ministry spirit said…

If we used the construction kit I acquired, we would be able to build about ten infrastructures with our dimension’s capability after the tutorial.

But of course, I didn’t mean to stop there.