Chapter 40

< Chapter 40: Under Root (1) >

Looking at Hermit, who was bowing his head, I quickly managed my expression.

I am an arrogant and haughty character.

I am a big shot.

I brainwashed myself like that.

“What is it?”

I put on a nonchalant expression.

Good. This completes the Grand Spirit cosplay.

“I have something to tell you, so I came to see you without hesitation.”

I nodded lightly to continue talking.

“Do you remember what I said last time that I need to infiltrate the military academy?”

“I did.”

“The purpose of that infiltration…”

Hermit’s words went on for a long time.

He explained the situation in detail, starting from why he had to infiltrate the military academy.

“If I don’t get the root of the world stored in the warehouse of the military academy within a week, it will be more annoying. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

Most of it was as I expected.

“Hmm. Three people.”

It was a bit surprising that three officers would be added if the mission was not completed within a week.

Especially, the officers who volunteered were Maestro, Alchemist, and Vagabond.

They are the trio of crazy murderers.

I briefly imagined the three of them going wild in the military academy.

I got goosebumps all over my body.

Ugh. I don’t even want to imagine it.

“What if they fail too?”

“…In that case, Unknown will move himself.”

“Oh. That heavy-assed guy himself?”

I pretended to be relaxed, but I was very flustered inside.

Really? Unknown is going to move too?

The root of the world must be important.

“That would be a hassle.”

In the end, it seemed best to hand over the root of the world to Hermit as I expected.

He must have said this to me to get permission for infiltration and theft.

In Hermit’s mind, I am an absolute powerhouse.

He must think he has no choice if I block his infiltration.

“I can’t help it. I’ll allow you to infiltrate.”

“…Thank you.”

Hermit bowed slightly.

“But before you take it to the organization, bring it to me first.”

“To you… sir?”

“Yes.”

Hermit hesitated.

“May I ask why if it’s not rude?”

The reason is simple.

The root of the world is an ancient relic of the elf race. It would be nice to get some traits before handing it over, right?

But I couldn’t say that. I made up some words casually.

“I want to give Unknown some shit.”

I gave a wicked smile.

“…If that’s the case, I’ll gladly cooperate.”

Hermit smiled along.

“By the way, Unknown didn’t seem to put any restrictions on this mission.”

Hermit’s expression hardened in an instant.

“…Yes. This infiltration mission was an urgent one. No additional restrictions were imposed.”

As I said before, Hermit is cursed by Unknown.

If he violates what Unknown has restricted, his brain will twist and his heart will burst out in a horrible curse.

“Hmm. It’s not my place to say anything about the additional restrictions, but it’s pitiful. To be caught by Unknown of all people.”

A crackling sound came from Hermit’s mouth.

He was chewing on his anger, recalling Unknown’s past deeds.

“That curse. I told you before, but I can solve it for you.”

“….”

Hermit’s expression became strange.

A hopeful and distrustful expression.

An expression that says he wants to believe but can’t.

“The spirit’s fire burns everything.”

I lightly lit a small flame the size of a lighter on my fingertip.

“And that’s only what you want exactly.”

“What does that have to do with my curse…”

“I thought you were a fairly smart guy, but you weren’t. Tch, stupid guy.”

I bit my tongue.

“The spirit’s flame can burn the curse that has sprouted in your body.”

“!”

Hermit’s eyes trembled.

My words are true.

The spirit’s flame can burn Unknown’s curse.

Of course, it’s impossible now.

For a simple reason.

I lack magic power.

To burn Unknown’s curse, I need at least as much magic power as he used to cast it.

There’s no way with my magic power right now.

But on the other hand, it means that I can solve it anytime if I have enough magic power.

“…What should I do?”

Hermit asked.

“I think I told you before. If you help me well, I’ll break the curse for you.”

When that moment comes, Hermit will be completely mine.

He will become the strongest force that hates the Savior of Truth deeply.

“You mean I have to prove my own value to you.”

“That’s right.”

Until then, I have to manipulate Hermit well.

“…I understand.”

A strong will was in Hermit’s eyes.

“Can I ask you one last thing?”

“Okay, go ahead.”

Hermit paused for a moment and opened his mouth.

“What is your goal, sir?”

“Well. There are many things.”

To survive.

To go back to the original world.

To become stronger than the original protagonist.

To go back and beat up God and my brother.

And so on and so forth.

But Hermit probably doesn’t want to ask me that.

“To erase the Savior of Truth from this world.”

I twisted one corner of my mouth.

“The top priority is this.”

“….”

Hermit didn’t open his mouth anymore.

Only his ascended smile that seemed to hang on his ears represented his feelings.

* * *

The next day at lunch.

The boring lectures that I knew well were all over.

“Hey, hey. It’s raining today and I feel like drinking makgeolli, don’t you?”

“We still have classes, you know?”

“Who said we’re drinking now? How about later in the evening?”

“Hmm. Okay.”

As the cadets gathered in groups of three or five to go out for lunch, I was caught by Jia.

She was burning with a passion for learning today.

Maybe it’s because the skill test period is approaching.

“Um. I don’t understand this part very well…”

I explained the part to her.

“Seo-yul, are you not eating lunch?”

Ha Si-yeon came up to me.

“Huh? Oh. I have to eat.”

“If you don’t have any plans, do you want to eat together?”

“Um.”

I glanced at Jia.

Her expression was a bit strange.

She seemed to be glaring at Ha Si-yeon more than necessary.

“Sorry. I’m going to eat with Jia.”

Did something happen between them?

“If you’re going to eat together, why don’t I eat with you?”

Ha Si-yeon was the same as usual.

“Jia and I are going to solve this problem and then go.”

It wasn’t a misunderstanding.

Jia’s tone was colder than usual.

Did something really happen between them?

“A problem? What is it?”

Ha Si-yeon approached innocently.

“Oh. This one. This one is hard~ I barely solved it. If you twist the magic backflow range formula halfway and substitute it, it’s easy.”

Ha Si-yeon took out a pen and wrote down the solution on Jia’s notebook.

“….”

Jia’s expression hardened even more.

She glanced back and forth between Ha Si-yeon’s hand and face, biting her tongue slightly.

“…Ah.”

That’s what it was.

I understood.

“By the way, Ha Si-yeon, you rose to second place in the ranking, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I was lucky.”

Ha Si-yeon twisted her neatly arranged hair with her left index finger.

Jia’s shoulder shook slightly.

It seemed that my guess was right.

“That’s it. If you learn how to twist this formula, you can solve almost all of these types of problems.”

Ha Si-yeon turned the notebook to Jia so she could see it well.

Jia looked at the formula with an angry expression.

As I expected, nothing happened between them.

Jia just regarded Ha Si-yeon as a rival and was wary of her.

With a sense of crisis that she might lose the first place in the ranking.

After all, Ha Si-yeon’s rise was so rapid.

These days, SNS and instructors were burning with the topic of ‘Shin Jia VS Ha Si-yeon’.

It must be very nerve-wracking for Jia.

It could really happen that the first and second places would be reversed.

Ha Si-yeon had a higher score on the written test, so it was really hard to tell what would happen.

That’s why Jia was so desperate.

She didn’t want to lose.

“That’s it. Let’s go eat together. If your blood sugar drops, your study efficiency will drop too.”

Ha Si-yeon smiled innocently. Jia reluctantly closed her workbook and got up from her seat.

I followed suit and got up from my seat too.

Woong-

Suddenly, the smartphone in my pocket vibrated.

…Choi Ji-hoon?

What did he do to talk to me?

[Are you free tonight?]

That’s out of the blue.

“Ha Si-yeon. Just a minute. I’ll just do one talk.”

“Oh, okay. Take your time.”

[I don’t have any special plans. Why?]

[Under Root opens tonight.]

A black market that targets superhumans and has an irregular opening cycle.

Under Root.

Today was that day.

What does that mean?

[Are you going to get ancient relics?]

[Yes.]

[Okay cool. What time and where should I go?]

* * *

“Your ticket has been confirmed. You can go inside.”

Under Root.

A black market that violates the law but is ignored by the government.

It is famous for its clean work and no strings attached, as long as you pay properly.

The inside was like a normal department store. Maybe a luxury department store.

It didn’t look like a black market at all.

“Mr. Jang, please guide us.”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Choi Ji-hoon stepped back and Secretary Jang took the lead.

I was quietly following behind.

“There are two brokers who deal with ancient relics in Under Root. Do you want to meet both of them?”

Secretary Jang asked me.

“Yes. Since we’re here, it’s better to see both of them.”

“Okay. Then this way.”

We followed Secretary Jang for a while. It must have been about 10 minutes.

[4FD-231G8F]

We arrived at a store that displayed such a code on the signboard.

Secretary Jang opened the door of the store without hesitation.

“Welcome… Cough. You’re an old fart.”

He was a man with a warm impression who looked like he was in his early 30s.

He had a nice face.

He looked like he would do well in selling insurance.

“What do you mean by old fart to your father’s friend? You’re still a brat.”

Secretary Jang snapped his tongue.

“If you came to see my father, he’s not here today.”

The man waved his hand casually as if he was shooing away a fly.

“I came as a customer today.”

“Oh? Now that I look at it, you brought two strangers with you today.”

The man’s eyes changed at the word customer.

“What are the two gentlemen looking for?”

The facility didn’t look like a black market at all, but the person inside was like a typical black market owner.

It was very unbalanced.

“We came to see ancient relics.”

Choi Ji-hoon said.

“Ancient relics? What are you going to use those antiques for?”

“Do I have to tell you the purpose in Under Root?”

“Kee~ You make me speechless.”

The owner tapped his forehead and let out a faint smile.

“Our store sells two ancient relics for now.”

“Two? What are they for now?”

“…You’ll see when you look at them.”

The owner got up from his seat.

“Follow me. They’re inside.”

We followed the man for a bit.

“One is a hammer. [Breath of the Craftsman], a relic of the dwarf race.”

“The price?”

“The price is exactly 1.7 billion won.”

Thud-

The man put down the carrier on the floor and said.

“The other one is….”

The owner made a strange expression as if he was uncomfortable and fiddled with the carrier.

Then he scratched the back of his head and muttered as if he was talking to himself.

“[Fang Engraved with Mana], a relic of the dragon race.”

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