Chapter 63 (1/2)
Expensive and Useless (1)
A Gate Keeper hunter was waiting at the destination, clearly contacted in advance. No official from the Hunter Management Department was present at the gate, so he alone welcomed us.
“Welcome.”
Looking at the way they worked, it was difficult to consider them as an organization that simply, after earning money, regularly checked the gate’s status message, or went inside the gate to inspect the internal structure of the dungeon instead of Clearing it by themselves. And if there were guilds or individuals who wish to mine or clear, they could sell their fixed-term licenses at a reasonable price. Dungeons postponed by the big guilds did not easily collapse, but they often succeeded as well. Such a case once appeared from the type of dungeon that could not be taken by force.
“You’re really an SS-Rank! Congratulations.”
After confirming my Hunter’s license, whether he had already heard the news through the Internet or not, he exclaimed without any notion of surprise, “This is a real national celebration.” His eyes contained a mixture of envy, curiosity, and admiration. He looked at me with such intense eyes and asked, “Don’t you have to go back to Celestial Dragon right now and prepare for the press conference? We don’t have much contact with your side. But I know that the Guild Master is a man who cares a lot about those.”
He must have seen the news about me, but I guessed he hadn’t heard Seo Gyu-Cheol’s information yet. Seo Gyu-Cheol was now poised to be made a villain by all reporters. With public antipathy, I laughed bitterly.
“I have some personal matters.”
Hunter tilted his head and said, “Well, alright. Then…. you must have already received the basic information about the dungeon. By the way, you only paid for one day’s fee. Then it’ll end after you guys have a hard time at the entrance. Even if the three of you take turns using levitation, you can’t go far because of the potion shock.”
Even though all the dungeons protected by the Gate Keepers were like this, there was also a reason why the attack on this site was slow.
“Well, it’s not for mining or attack; it’s for some sort of field trip.”
“Ah, for sure…. all three of you don’t have extensive careers yet.”
He nodded as he saw our members’ Hunter’s card.
“It’s definitely one of Korea’s rarer dungeons.”
Today’s dungeon exploration would not be very useful for the three of us, but we chose places where the acquisition, which makes a lot of money if sold, came out. As with other goods, the value of most artifacts over time.
‘In the future, the price may fall or become worthless, but now, the price is as we demand.’
While he was checking Nate and Hibiki’s belongings on behalf of the public official, I glanced at the ring on my finger, a ring that I reported as an ordinary artifact.
It was the compensation I received when the S-rank, Siheung 8 dungeon Clear, was over. It was also an item that could not be traded, as it was invaluable. I recalled the moment when I got my hands on the ring.
*
When I was summoned to the place where I selected the additional rewards, after annihilating the third stage dungeon monsters, my heart went crazy.
‘It’s SSS-class!’
This was because, among the numerous options, the item matched the SSS-Rank standard in Mana concentration, as would be expected. Nonetheless, I couldn’t decide and hesitated.
I’d never seen such a pattern, either in my past or present life! It was not a type used for offense, and it was not a defensive type, or a support type. It was hard to guess. I was even more perplexed because there were many SS-Rank items that I was already familiar with.
Having no clue, I still had to choose.
But it was an item whose performance I was vaguely aware of, so I was sure I could upgrade my battle power if I carried it around. And it was an item I was sure to be of an SSS-Rank, even if I didn’t know its effect. But then I saw a description of the ring’s in my hand; I realized that it was not something I could sell to the Senator or hand over to anyone else.
The item description was as follows:
[Door of Hope] – Item Description: The last emperor of the Sebrarian Empire secretly instructed his aides in preparation for the final war. It was to find a way to evacuate all the citizens in case of emergency.
Thus, the miraculous legacy was born, after the best brains and powerful men of the Empire gathered together. Unfortunately, the emperor’s evacuation plan was never put into practice. By the time R&D was over and mass production was available, there were no dimensions left for them to evacuate.
※ Note: 1. If the correct coordinates are not entered, there is a risk of being swept away by the dimensional storm.
Movement within the same dimension is impossible due to the operating principles that leverage the population resources between dimensions. The farther the destination dimension is from the origin dimension, and the more the population there is to be transported, the more Mana cores are consumed. If the user to whom the item is attached is transferred, the item will also be sent to the destination dimension.
It was an unexpected item for real. The words ‘dimensional storm’ was taught by the system in my previous life. I was told these dimensional storms had once been on Earth as well. Much like sailing a ship, in this case through dimensional waters in the midst of a storm, the purpose was to navigate in such a way as to not cause a collision and leave oneself stranded or even ‘shipwrecked’.
In the explanation of this ring, the Empire named Sebrarian, was mentioned, another familiar word. It was a unique noun that was also described with the [Stardust Wing], which was rated SS. It was a huge empire that existed in a different dimension, in the past, and had several planets in its territory.
As I looked at the explanation, I realized it was an item that made it possible to move between dimensions; a tool that opened the door directly to the destination without passing through dungeons, just like when the alien race had sought to invade the Earth. It was a treasure I have never encountered in my previous life.
After attacking the Siheung 8 dungeon, I returned to my place and tested the ring’s function.
Wooong!
The condition to wake the Artifact up was simple. Just like other things, I did it by simply injecting Mana. The ring naturally slipped off my finger, and grew in size, making a hoop-like shape large enough for a person to enter. The void inside the rim was filled with blue light.
‘It looked like a gate.’
Then, the telepathy of the Artifact flowed into my brain.
– Please enter coordinates.
I paused.
Coordinates? What coordinates?
I had no information on the correlation between specific dimensions and their coordinates. Right now, I didn’t even know the coordinates of the Earth dimension I was in. I could not enter any number and jump in, or else I could be swept away by a dimensional storm if I entered an incorrect coordinate. So, with no intention of entering the door, I entered a random number in the group of lights floated by the Artifact and looked at what results it gave.
And then…
– Coordinates confirmed. A Mana core containing 890,000 Mana is needed to transport one human species to the destination you entered. At that moment, I unconsciously checked my Mana.
– Active Mana: 55,500 (+23,400)/32,100
– Potential Mana: 96,100
The minimum condition for SS rank promotion is 30,000 active Mana, and my potential Mana was already several times that. It was clear that my growth would go beyond anyone’s expectations from this moment on. Nevertheless, if I had a core of 890,000 Mana in my hand, I would surely absorb it with [Mana Drain].
After that, I put in random coordinates a few more times and eventually just closed the door. And back in the form of a ring, [Door of Hope] remained in a sleeping state.
Perhaps the Artifact’s reason to require a tremendous amount of Mana was that the destination was a great distance away. The greater the distance, the more Mana would be required. It was not even possible to estimate how much core it would need for a nearer dimension, and I had no least amount of material to experiment with. But I knew it was a really great item, but nothing I could use at that moment.
While I was thinking of the past, the Hunter of the Gate Keepers called me up and woke me up from my thoughts. All preparations were completed.
“Well, have a safe trip.”
We entered the dungeon.
*
A terrible heat greeted us as soon as we crossed the gate.
“Blargh!”
“I-It’s hot.”
Nate immediately zombified his whole body to stop feeling the intense heat. The process killed all his nerves. To be fair, it was not a bad choice with the temperature being too high, because it would slow down decay or rather sterilize it, but I didn’t like it.
[Heat Resistance!]