< 68th Episode Third Ruins (3) >
[Present for you]
[From. KIM GOD]
This playful message and the name of the sender.
It’s certain.
Kim Shin.
It’s his message.
“What’s with the English at the entrance of the ruins?”
“Maybe someone already cleared the ruins?”
Ha Si-yeon and Jia tilted their heads.
“No. That’s not it.”
“Why?”
“…It’s hard to explain. But I’m sure. It’s not a cleared ruin.”
It’s not a message left by another explorer.
Besides, that Present for you.
If you look at the message that says a gift for you, there’s a high chance that there’s a gift hidden inside.
A gift from him, it’s strangely unsettling.
But I can’t not go in.
“Let’s go in.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I decided to explore this unidentified ruin.
Just don’t be a crappy gift.
I’ll kill you for real.
* * *
“Yes, unnie. Things are going well here.”
Meanwhile, at that time, Yu Hwa was on the phone with Maiden.
-How’s the Vagabond thing going?
“Of course. From the beginning, that side is helping the Myth Group, so I don’t have much to do.”
-Well. They’ll take care of it for you. The brand reputation has already risen a lot. Isn’t that nice?
“Yes. Superhuman companies are ultimately images.”
It was only two months ago that they were in danger of hitting rock bottom because of the doppelganger.
They never dreamed they would bounce back like this.
-Every night, bow to the dormitory in the direction of that kid. If you have a conscience.
“…Doing that is a bit.”
-Look at this girl? Catching the doppelganger. Kim Shin-woo, a piece of trash, personally stepping up and sorting it out. And on top of that, you gave him the honor of dealing with Vagabond, the greatest villain of all time. Can’t you do that much?
“….”
Looking at it, she received a lot.
“…Forget it. Instead of doing useless things like bowing, I’ll help you directly.”
-Oh~ Our Hwa is cool~
Maiden giggled.
“More than that, unnie. How did the investigation into the national attack go?”
-Ah. That?
At Okhwadang, Kang Seo-yul said that the Lifesavers of Truth would attack the national competition and told them everything about how they planned to attack.
The problem was that there was no evidence to back up his statement.
So Maiden decided to investigate whether this information was true or not.
-It seems like what that kid said is right. The movement is not normal. There seem to be some executives who have been bought out.
And as a result, Kang Seo-yul’s words were proven to be true.
“…That’s right.”
That meant that Kang Seo-yul’s identity as a survivor of the experiment was more certain.
-I also did some more research on Sunlight Orphanage. This seems to be true too.
“Why?”
She was already 99% sure.
But 99% and 100% are different.
-You already know that Suseong Group is involved in the Sunlight Orphanage experiment site incident, right?
“Yes.”
-I received a more detailed report from the Suseong Group side. Are you sitting in front of your computer? I’ll send it to you, so check it out.
“Just a moment.”
Yu Hwa quickly opened her guild account. And she opened the email Maiden sent and checked the attached file.
“…This picture.”
Yu Hwa’s eyes widened.
-Doesn’t it look right?
A picture of a 10-year-old boy.
His body was full of needles and his eyes were like dying fish.
His face was much younger and had more scars than now, but it was a face that reminded her of someone.
“Mr. Seo-yul…”
It was the moment when Yu Hwa’s 99% confidence turned into 100%.
* * *
The inside of the ruins was very quiet.
“Isn’t this just a cave?”
“It doesn’t feel like a ruin at all.”
There were no monsters, traps, or strange structures.
The scenery was no different from an ordinary cave, and it continued for 20 minutes.
“Doesn’t it make you more nervous because it’s quiet? It feels like something will pop out all of a sudden.”
“Don’t say ominous things.”
I listened to the chatter of the two women and was lost in thought.
How did Shin-hyung know that I would find this place and leave a message and a gift here?
Why did he leave a message in such a ridiculous place?
I don’t know what he was thinking.
What was his purpose in throwing me into this world in the first place?
“Huh? There’s something over there.”
I woke up from my reverie at Ha Si-yeon’s words. There was definitely something in the place where Ha Si-yeon was pointing with her finger.
“…A treasure chest?”
A box that glowed faintly with gold. It was a treasure chest that anyone could see.
“Wow. So this was really a ruin? We hit the jackpot.”
Ha Si-yeon was happy first.
“How can there be only a treasure chest lying around like this? Could it be a trap?”
Jia doubted.
And I…
“It’s not a trap.”
I glared at the treasure chest with a nervous expression.
At the same time, I reached out to the box.
“Seo, ancestor!”
“It’s okay.”
It couldn’t be a trap.
I grabbed the lock of the treasure chest.
A lock that opens when you enter three numbers.
This was written under the lock.
[The end that is not the end. If you get it wrong once, it explodes.]
“The end that is not the end? Isn’t it hard to guess three numbers with this?”
“Si-yeon is right. It says it will explode. It’s dangerous.”
“It’s okay.”
This was a code that only I could solve.
“I already solved it.”
“…Already?”
The subtitle of the last episode of [S-Class Status Window] in this world was this.
[Episode 859: The End That Is Not The End.]
If it’s a three-letter number combination from here, the answer is almost fixed.
I naturally reached for the lock.
[8, 5, 9]
I finished entering and pressed the button on the side of the lock.
Clank-
The sound of the lock opening and the lock disappeared like fog.
Flash-!
“Kya!”
The treasure chest opened and light burst out.
As soon as all the light stopped and I opened my eyes.
“Gone?”
The treasure chest was gone.
“…A book?”
And there was a thick book on the spot where the treasure chest had been.
* * *
We came out of the cave and started looking for the entrance of the ruins again.
It seemed like we had been searching for over two hours, but we still couldn’t find it.
“It’s going to get dark soon.”
Ha Si-yeon looked up at the sky and casually said.
“That’s true.”
The current time was 6:19 p.m.
The sunset was starting to show.
“Let’s take a break and eat something.”
We had no problem with our physical strength, but we had to eat while we were exploring.
“Agreed!”
Ha Si-yeon came to me like lightning.
“Shouldn’t we find the entrance first before the sun sets?”
Jia hesitated and said.
“Well. If we can’t find it by sunset, we’ll give up for today.”
Honestly, I didn’t expect it to take this long. I thought we would find it quickly.
“Anyway, let’s eat. It’s more efficient to work while eating.”
“That’s right. There’s a saying that a dead ghost who eats has a better complexion.”
Ha Si-yeon agreed with me and stepped forward.
“…”
Jia still looked reluctant.
‘I feel like we could find it if we look a little more…’
She had that expression on her face.
I had no choice.
I decided to use my special skill for Jia.
“I’m hungry.”
Jia’s eyes widened.
“Uh. I’m sorry. I didn’t think of your hunger…”
“No, don’t be sorry.”
“I’ll prepare as fast as I can!”
Jia quickly came to my side and fixed a rectangular machine device the size of a carrier on the ground.
And she pressed a button.
Chwarararak-
Then the device unfolded and revealed various camping tools.
Dungeon, labyrinth, ruins, etc.
It was a camping set for superhumans who were active outside.
“Wow. This is a new model?”
Ha Si-yeon’s eyes widened.
“Yeah. I got some samples from an affiliated company this time.”
A mechanical table and chair.
A makeshift house that was too much to call a tent.
It was literally a product of cutting-edge technology.
“Ancestor. It’s all ready! Sit here!”
“Huh? Oh.”
I didn’t expect her to prepare something like this.
The last time I explored the ruins with Si-yeon, we ate on the floor with a mat.
As I sat on the chair, Jia took out some food one by one and put them on the table.
They were all preserved food, but the packaging looked fancy.
“Are these samples too?”
“Yes. This time, I got a new pipe with a foreign company for dealing with Vagabond. These are what they sent me to try first.”
“Let’s make a contract if you like it. Is that it?”
“Yes.”
After all the setting was done,
“Well, please understand if the preserved food is not very tasty.”
Jia said hesitantly.
“It looks pretty good.”
Ha Si-yeon tore open the package first and took a piece of meat that looked like chicken to her mouth.
I followed suit and tore open any pack and bit into it.
“…What is this?”
Why is it so delicious?
Is this preserved food?
There was no dry feeling of preserved food. It was rather moist.
While I was confused, I heard a sound of eating from beside me.
When I looked, Ha Si-yeon was inhaling food without saying anything.
She must have been very hungry.
“Do you like it?”
Jia looked at me with worried eyes.
“Huh? Oh. It’s really good. It seems better than regular food.”
I meant it.
“I’m glad.”
Jia sighed with relief.
After that, we focused on eating without talking.
Jia also focused on eating quietly, so she must have been hungry too.
“Huah.”
I looked around.
The calm scenery of the mountain slope.
The air was good and the scenery was good too.
It felt like I was on a picnic.
“Oh. Right. Seo-yul.”
After filling up her stomach somewhat, Ha Si-yeon took her hand off the food and asked me.
“What was that book you got earlier? You looked so serious when you read it.”
She meant the thick book I got from the treasure chest in the cave earlier.
“…Um. A trivial encyclopedia?”
It was something big though.
“An encyclopedia?”
“Yeah. Wanna see?”
I took out the book from my bag and handed it to Ha Si-yeon. It was thick as hell, and the cover was hardcover.
It really looked like an encyclopedia at first glance.
“It’s in Korean?”
“Yeah. It was in Korean.”
Ha Si-yeon tilted her head and opened the encyclopedia.
Jia also glanced at the encyclopedia next to her.
“…Table of contents. A list of traits by race?”
“Huh? This.”
Ha Si-yeon tilted her head.
Jia’s eyes widened.
“Is this the full race version of the book you borrowed from me last time?”
The book I borrowed from Jia that recorded the traits of the elves was written in Elvish, so I couldn’t read it.
“That’s right.”
An encyclopedia that recorded all kinds of racial traits.
It was a big deal for me, but for other people, it was just a content that they would say ‘Hmm. There are such traits too.’ and move on.
Sarang- Sarang-
Ha Si-yeon turned the pages quickly.
Her eyes sparkled, so she seemed to be looking for something.
She glanced at me from time to time, so I guessed she was looking for the page that recorded the traits of the Angel race.
“Here it is. Angel.”
That’s right.
Jia also looked at the page with a bright-eyed expression.
“Heavenly Wings. A flying organ, unique to the Angel race. The higher the strength and stamina, the longer and faster they can fly. It is also an organ that excels in magic circulation, and when the Heavenly Wings is spread, it has the function of raising the magic rank by one level. Wow.”
Ha Si-yeon nodded her head as she looked at me and the book alternately.
Then she turned the page again.
“Ah. Is this that lightning?”
“What is it?”
“Thunder Bolt.”
She’s sharp.
“That’s right.”
“That’s right.”
Ha Si-yeon was excited and started reading the description of Thunder Bolt.
“A divine lightning that combines the sacred and thunder attributes. It inflicts great damage on evil attributes.”
“…Damage amplification according to the amount of magic contained. If you have enough magic, you can kill even a dragon in one shot.”
Jia also started to look openly now.
“This one would make the demons unable to move.”
“No. According to historical records, angels and demons had similar combat power. There must be a trait that matches this Thunder Bolt in the demon race too.”
Jia countered Ha Si-yeon’s words.
“Ah. That could be true.”
The two were excited and turned the pages.
“Look. There it is.”
“Really.”
They looked like children who came to the zoo for the first time. I smiled as I watched them.
As I said, this book was an encyclopedia that meant a lot to me.
The way I used racial traits until now was like this.
If it was a trait mentioned in the original work, I used it based on my memory.
If it was a trait not mentioned in the original work, I somehow figured it out by repeating trial and error.
But now that I got this encyclopedia, I don’t need to repeat trial and error anymore.
“Ancestor. This book. It seems like it will be a great help in the upcoming Second World War, right?”
“That’s right.”
Not only that.
Since all kinds of racial traits were recorded, I gained an advantage in future battles with some hybrid races.
Information is power.
This encyclopedia will give me great power.
“Ah. Ancestor. Can you use this trait called Wind Arrow too?”
“Yeah. I can use it.”
“Woah.”
And lastly, this was the most important thing.
I will be able to use my traits more accurately.
“That’s amazing. You can condense wind into arrows and use them.”
I smiled.
“I think so too.”
I had been using racial traits wrong until now.
