Chapter 63

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!]

As I cast the spell onto everyone, only then did they give a look that suggested they could stand it. Nate returned to his original form.

He asked, with his eyes wide open, "It's completely different from the place where we took the test."

"Since it's a different dimension."

The scenery beyond the blazing haze was filled with red magma. This dungeon was a kind of volcanic zone. Magma rivers, covering the dry land, flowed everywhere. There were no sign of living creatures or organic lifeforms, at least for now, except for a few dark red trees with their roots on the ground.

"How can a tree live in this hot weather?"

"That's not a carbon-based creature, like a tree on Earth."

I approached the huge tree and cut off a branch. Instead of sap on the cut surface, something like a dark red jewel glistened.

"Oh... I see."

I put the branch in my backpack instead of throwing it away.

"Jin-Wook, why are you taking that?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

This dungeon's Clear was difficult because it was hot, but the overland route was often cut off over a long distance due to the river of magma flowing here and there.

I thought of using levitation, while preventing a potion shock, but the distance I could move forward, in a day, was limited. But, of course, I didn't intend to waste Mana that way.

Weing!

I opened the [Stardust Wing].

If I controlled the speed well, my exceptionally efficient Artifact would be far greater than a levitation spell. Nate opened his mouth at the sight of particles of light gathering to form six wings.

"Are you going to fly by holding onto both of us?" he said, incredulously.

"Yes."

Hibiki paused, "Wait, hold... and fly?"

*

Whoosh!

I relied on the map in my head to put my passengers onto an island-like ground floating around the magma. While flying in my arms (Nate enjoyed flying), Hibiki said nothing, but stiffened her entire body. I didn't recall her having a fear of heights in the previous life. I wondered if she had overcome it later.

"Shh! Shh!"

There was a huge, hill-like rock on the island. On the surface of the rock, lizards, whose whole bodies were wrapped in flames, were sleeping with their bodies close to the rock. As we approached, they remained vigilant.

"It's a Fire Lizard. They have a bad reputation with zombies, so Hibiki, take care of it alone."

"Okay," Hibiki, who was catching her breath, nodded with a firm expression and immediately prepared the spells. The Runestone I gave her shone, and huge magic circles appeared in front of her—three at the same time.

[Ice Spear]

[Freeze Arrow]

[Blizzard Storm]

Ice spears and arrows stretched out from her hand and penetrated the Fire Lizards while an ice storm enveloped and trapped them.

Swish!

Even those who managed to avoid the fierce attacks slowed down in the ice storm, and the attack hit accurately. In the process of overlapping several ice-based magic, the freezing effect was maximized, so we forgot the heat for a while, even if we were a bit distant.

"Ugh! It's cold."

Even the [Heat Resistance] overlapped, so it reached the point where even a slight chill could be felt. After Hibiki finished all the monsters and recovered Mana Cores, I asked Nate, "You see that big rock? The ones where the lizards were resting against."

"Yes."

"Can you please cut the rock about two meters from the surface? Don't break it completely, just two meters."

"Two meters?" he quizzed. It was clear he was not familiar with the metric system. I showed my sword energy in a long stick shape to illustrate the length.

"This is the length."

"Yes, okay."

This was also Mana Control Training. He concentrated his mind, rallied Mana at the end of his hand, then shot it. When the wave reached the huge rock's surface, it caused a violent shock and smashed the rock.

Boom!

"That's too bad; it needed just a bit more."

"Man!"

He couldn't cut as much as I wanted him to, and the shock wave of the psychokinesis stopped along the way. I shaved off the remaining stones by blowing a shock wave. Then, the thing that was hidden in the middle of the rock was revealed.

"Huh? There's a fire hidden in the stone?"

It was a brilliant green flame, rumbling in the middle of broken, exposed rock. The flame was held by the rock. This is why the lizards gathered here and were standing close to the rock.

"Would you like to come closer?"

The expressions of the two, who were walking, changed. Strange heat surrounded them.

"My body.... feels good and warm," Hibiki said admiringly.

"Has your fatigue gone away and do you feel energized?"

"Yes."

"Wow, Jin-Wook. What's this?"

When exposed to the effect, the item description comes up:

[Vital Flame]

- Item description: This flame, which restores fatigue just by being up close, burns stronger, consuming the sleeping potential Mana in the Mana core when it is contacted.

The enhanced heat generated during combustion heals damaged cells, stimulates cell division, and recovers the gene's telomeres. If it consumes all of the potential Mana, the effect stops.

Most hunters would avoid it because of the description that it burns up the potential Mana when it was attached to the core, but some of the world's Awakens were not interested in dungeon exploration. Some wealthy people were Awakened just because they wanted to have a healthy body and a slight increase in life expectancy.

"What this is......." I began, thinking that this was an item that was expensive but useless to me, in my previous life and my present life, I didn't need it for different reasons. I continued, "It's the medicine for rejuvenation."