ALL NOVEL
Chapter 86:
Did I hear the choking sound?
“Anyway, I’ll end the call here. Ah, and Seonwoo Yeon-ssi, please make sure to eat your meal too.”
I ended the call without much thought. I didn’t want the food to cool down.
****
How many days have passed since then?
“Whoo.”
It’s a clear autumn day. Before I knew it, the window was filled with clear skies. However, even in such weather, I couldn’t go out at all. I was engrossed in important matters.
“This is enough, right?”
Clank, clank.
I shook the bottle in my hand and observed the blue liquid inside. This was the result of the past few days. It was the Magic Booster ver.2.
I am good at using magic and crafting magic tools, but now I am even good at potion craft. What on earth can’t I do?
‘Kekeuk!’
As expected, I was able to use Blueshell without difficulty. Because I easily overcame the side effects of this fruit.
‘There were some kidney toxic substances, but it wasn’t a big deal, right?’
Kidneys? You can always fix those if they get messed up. Addiction? There was no way a great magician who controlled every single nerve in the body would hand over control to something like that.
All problems have been resolved. So, is there any reason not to use this excellent stimulant?
“As expected, it was a good idea to sneak it in.”
As a result, I had the desired result. The body was strengthened to the next level by mixing a low concentration of Blueshell with an existing magic booster.
[1.3.31 Change Log]
My maximum mana amount has increased. In other words, from now on, I will be able to use basic magic without drinking any boosters.
‘I did it!’
Even so, the overall evaluation is still F-Class, so the power of the magic itself hasn’t changed much…
‘Where is the progress!’
I decided to think positively. As I make steady progress like this, I imagine that one day I’ll be able to heal my lungs.
-??~ ?~
I snapped out of my daydream about three minutes later when my phone, which I had left plugged into the charger, started ringing.
“Really, Kim Kiryeo doesn’t even have any saved numbers in his contacts, so where are all these calls coming from?”
Is it also an illegal advertisement for a loan company? I felt annoyed even before answering the call. But soon, the words that appeared on the screen were…
[Kang Changho?]
I checked my phone, paused for a moment, and then pressed the call acceptance button.
“Yes. This is Kim Kiryeo.”
Then someone’s voice came back from the speaker.
***
People on Earth have very different communication methods for each individual. There are people like Seonwoo Yeon who simply convey business. Of course, there were also cases the other way around.
-Yeah. Hunter Kim Kiryeo, did you have a good last week?
S-class Awakener Kang Changho. The call with him turned out to be surprisingly long. So, let me summarize the main points briefly.
‘Huh?’
Kang Changho ‘apologizes’ to me.
‘Apologize?’
More precisely, he apologized for suddenly blocking the attack on the Red Gate. Kang Changho admitted that he hasn’t been considerate enough and declared that from now on, we should maintain a better contractual relationship through mutual coordination.
“Huh.”
Furthermore, the surprising news didn’t end there. Kang Changho decided to compensate me for unilaterally restricting Hunter activities as a gesture of goodwill.
“You said you secured the gate?”
But I couldn’t believe that he would invite me to go to the gate with him first.
‘Does Kang Changho think I really love being a hunter…?’
I remembered those S-Class words again.
He has already secured a gate with a high item drop rate, so let’s go together. I can handle the strategy on my own, but if I want to collect the items, I’ll need to bring my backpack, too.
It’s an offer with no apparent damage. So, after thinking about it for a while, I decided to accept his apology.
‘It’s questionable, though.’
There’s no way I can continue to avoid that S-Class anyway.
***
[Dimensional Treasure Vault]
[Grade: B]
[Description: Artifacts have a high probability of appearing in treasure chests that appear at every corner. However, be careful of frequent traps.]
We soon arrived at the gate of Gyeonggi-do.
I heard that this “Dimensional Treasure Vault” is famous for its excellent rewards. Even small to medium-sized guilds are engaging in fierce competition to enter here for once.
“Then let’s go in.”
“Ah, yes. “
As I listened to the gate’s buzzing noise, I took a step forward. And then, the scenery before my eyes was…
‘Oho.’
A labyrinth of such grand scale that it seems as if it only appears in mythology.
‘The ceiling is open, but the walls are so high that I don’t dare climb up.’
So we began our first joint Blue Gate attack. However, what followed was a series of actions that could hardly be described as hunter duties, but rather a series of exhausting tasks…
.
.
.
Crack!
From somewhere, there was a sound like a ripe watermelon being split open. Moreover, what was visible wasn’t much different from that. Just now, a monster took an S-Class punch and shattered into pieces, spraying red liquid everywhere.
‘Anyway, it seems like you need a strong stomach to handle hunter duties.’
With that in mind, I approached the screaming monster. Then, Kang Changho pulled out the magic stone from the corpse, making it easy to collect, just as he always did.
‘Oh oh!’
Watch the hunt and put the magic stone in the bag. It may seem like boring, simple tasks, but why does this work feel so enjoyable?
‘This time, the mana stone is as big as a forearm!’
I smiled and put the magic stone in the bag. This was the part that helped me understand why [Dimensional Treasure Vault] was so popular. The discovery rate of mana stones was nearly 100%. Didn’t an item come out of the first treasure chest that was worth more than my entire fortune? Anyway, the profits were incomparable to regular dungeons.
‘If I sell all of these, I’ll probably make a fortune, right?’
Even before we could finish collecting the carcass of the monster we just defeated, we stumbled upon a new treasure chest.
There is literally no time to catch my breath.
“I’ll be removing the claws by myself, so you go and open the box.”
I nodded to Kang Chang-ho’s words and headed to the street corner. Now that I think about it, I heard that there is a low probability that the treasure chest in the dungeon could be a monster called Mimic… Hmm, that’s no problem for an excellent appraiser like me.
‘I can tell if it’s a living thing by looking at it.’
Tuk.
Convinced that the treasure chest was safe, I stuck my finger into its crevice.
It was that kind of moment.
“Hmm?”
Crack.
Starting with a small noise that could be easily overlooked, the dungeon began to tremble significantly.
Roaaar! Crack!
The following was a deafening roar that felt like it could tear my eardrums apart. I was taken aback for a moment, but I didn’t move hastily.
It was none other than the sound of the ground around me collapsing entirely.
‘Ugh!’
Beneath the collapsed floor was endless pitch darkness. But I can’t conclude that there is nothing just because I can’t see it.
-Krrrrk, krrrk.
In the darkness, eight glowing red eyes flashed by for a moment.
‘Oh my.’
A spider web stretches all the way around the treasure chest. And a giant underground monster. This was a trap. And the reason why the trap was suddenly activated…
“Hunter Kang Changho?”
I turned my head to look in Kang Changho’s direction. He shrugged calmly, one hand pressing against the walls of the maze.
‘Was that a trap trigger switch?’
I carefully got up from the footing that was about 1 meter away.
-Krrrrr!
Then the underground monster immediately reacted. It seems like it’s a creature sensitive to vibrations.
“What are you doing?”
When I asked a question, Kang Changho immediately opened his mouth.
“You’re not really surprised.”
“Because I roughly expected it.”
“You expected it?”
“Kang Changho, when you suddenly apologize, how could I readily believe it? Of course, I thought there must be something up there.”
So we continued our conversation across the collapsed floor.
“So you followed me knowing clearly that you would be in danger?”
Oh, I already thought that something would go wrong at this gate sooner or later.
This guy.
But I pretended not to know anything and stepped into the gate. If that S-Class creature has any ill intentions, an attack will inevitably happen anyway.
‘Hmm.’
I am not yet familiar with Earth. In other words, it is a situation where I don’t know what means the aliens can use. So, I figured accepting the invitation to a place and time where attacks are more predictable would be better.
But.
“Still, this is so different from what I imagined.”
I tilted my head to the side, looking down at the collapsed scaffolding.
“I never thought you would turn on a trap that wasn’t an instant death trap or even had a monster in it as a bonus.”
Yeah, I really didn’t expect this at all. If Kang Changho were to attack, I would have expected him to either personally come forward or use a very threatening trap.
-Krrrrr.
Thanks to that, I was stuck without being able to avoid it.
“If I get eaten by that spider… wouldn’t that be a problem for you too?”
When I asked in a curious voice, an answer was heard from the other side.
“It’s okay. It’s milder than it looks, it just paralyzes people and doesn’t cause much harm.”
That’s quite a relaxed tone. “Anyway, I didn’t originally mean to do it like this.”
Kang Changho later gave a brief explanation.
“But our hunter Kim Kiryeo keeps provoking people…”
“Me?”
“What were you up to last week?”
He cast a sharp look this way.
“It seems there’s nothing you can’t do when you’re left alone.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you go around silently harassing gangsters in the short time that Red Gate was prohibited? It was even a den of druggies with guns.”
“Ah.”
“Really…”
Eventually, several emotional expressions appeared on his face.
Bewilderment. Suspicion. Laughter.
“I guess you didn’t realize what would happen to me if you kept doing such dangerous things.”
But that laughter didn’t last long. Eventually, he revealed his hideous magic power as if it were nothing.
Tugh.
Just as the eerie footsteps of the spider demon echoed through the air.
I asked in a low voice.
“So what, are you saying you’re going to kill me here for something like that?”
And Kang Changho responds.
“I can do anything. With the paralysis poison from that monster, not only can I determine your rank, but I can also weaken any potential threats.”
It seems that Kang Changho was quite bothered by my involvement in the Rakshasa investigation. That’s probably why he’s coming out like this. From his perspective, it might seem safer just to kill the sacrifice here than to risk losing skills for no reason.
‘The warehouse search was just something that came up on the same day, so I just forgot to call.’
I touched the bridge of my nose and thought for a moment.
‘You somehow managed to find out what happened in that mountain valley…’
In a situation where I’ve caught the attention of an S-class hunter, an absolute powerhouse, anything could have happened at any time.
But it’s fine.
Because I have the means to respond now.
“Hmm.”
Maintaining a blank expression, I closed my eyes and quietly unbuttoned one button of my shirt without changing my posture.
Tuk.
What is eventually revealed is a thin gold necklace shining in a clear color.
[Pyromancer Necklace (Rare)]
Around the time when Kang Changho saw this and became puzzled. I grabbed the necklace and activated its power without saying a word.
“Hmm? Suddenly a necklace…”
The magic I had prepared was none other than a small-scale fire explosion.
“…!?”
Moreover, the coordinates were set within my skull.