Chapter 94

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How to Use Experience Points (1)

My question centered around the man who planted the [Mercadius' Seed] in the Celestial Dragon.

'He must be a subject under the watch of the Union since he is a being that finished the tutorial. But why was he left alone?'

The poodle replied.

"Again, it's not that simple. We need to look into the treaties according to the cases..."

He became lost in thought for a moment before continuing.

"If there is a report of such Awakened, the higher-ranking members of the Union will decide whether to punish them or not."

Huh?

"It's also important in which method and how much they intervened, but the key point is this: If the behavior of the Awakened ultimately leads to the entry to the main quests, I doubt we will need to intervene."

Upon hearing that, I completely erased the thought of revealing the presence of the 'man,' who was the owner of the seed.

The poodle looked at Adam as if it made a mistake.

"Of course, moderation is important. I'd like for Mr. Adam to keep this in mind, too.

"Tsk."

"Now, then."

The poodle approached the black-haired young man with a rattling pace.

Sitting and knitting, he put what he had in hand in his backpack and reached out to the small dog.

The alien gave some final words in the arms of the expressionless man.

"Lastly, don't forget that we're always watching."

Leaving those words behind, the alien and the young man entered the distorted space.

As soon as they completely disappeared, Adam spat very humanly, with a look of being caught of shit luck.

"Anyway.... The Union bastards are always assholes. Look how they talk."

I agreed with that part.

*

When the observer left, the People's Army seemed to have begun to enter beyond the barricade with great timing.

I could hear something heavy and thick breaking and collapsing.

"Shall we move?"

Swish!

I flew up in the sky with Adam as I organized my thoughts.

What that encounter convinced me of was that the aliens, who were called observers, didn't come to protect the Earth's people actively.

Rather, it's more like a referee who supervised the game for the sake of fairness.

'No, that's wrong, too.'

I soon shook my head.

'If a fair game is their goal, they should not let the others intervene at all.'

They were more like the power behind the curtains that manipulated the game to roll in the direction they wanted.

It's so secretive that no human being in the past had ever noticed their existence.

'Oh, right.'

I suddenly remembered something.

"Wasn't it on purpose that you led the observer to waste his experience points?"

I raised my right hand and asked Adam.

When I infused Mana, a complicated pattern was revealed on the back of my hand.

It was an insignia for those who had received the screening quest.

"This is clear evidence that one is still working on his or her tutorial. I heard that when you enter the main quest, the system changes?"

Showing the insignia on the back of my hand was the simplest and fastest way.

However, Adam deliberately pressured the observer to waste 580,000 points.

He grinned at me.

His smile was smeared with feelings of gloat over his misery.

"Yeah! Instead of necessarily telling him what he wanted, I encouraged him to self-destruct. He deserved it!"

His bitterness toward the Union seemed to have rooted deep into his heart.

"If I weren't around, He would have pressured you more instead of using his points. If it weren't for me, and it wasn't for that pattern, you'd be in bad shape."

"You said they're harmless if I didn't taunt them first!"

"That's how it's supposed to be. I didn't expect him to have a delusion of you being an alien."

My impression of the observer was gradually shifting to the worse side.

"Oh, yeah. You got the experience point, didn't you?"

He didn't even ask how much I got.

It didn't seem to matter to him, and he demanded the price that he wanted to receive.

"I propose 100,000 for this project. What do you think?"

Only that much?

Adam didn't know it yet, but the total amount of points I received that time was 2.68 million.

100,000 was less than 10% of that.

When he noticed my expression that it was unexpected of him, Adam gave an explanation.

"Consider that the first deal was discounted. And I didn't contribute much this time either, did I? Except for throwing out thousands of humans. It's not mutually moral to ask for more here."

Anyway, he's the alien that's most sensitive to mutual respect that I'd ever come across.

"Think of it as a stepping stone to maintain a smooth relationship. I'm looking forward to the future."

Snickering, he explained to me how to transfer the points.

I knew how, but I just listened.

In the past life, most of the points that our guild members received were transferred to Angelica.

I was used to it as I saw and heard how other colleagues did.

- Do you want to transfer the points?

When Adam made a deal, a message came to mind.

"I want to transfer 100,000 points."

- Transferred 100,000 experience points to the other party.

The points reflected by the system were reduced from 2.68 million to 2.58 million.

I asked out of curiosity.

"What are you collecting points for? You must already have enough to use it as a toll fee to go back to your original dimension."

He replied with a grin.

"The more experience points you have, the better. As you progress in the main quest, there will be many parts that cannot be solved with just the dungeons' items and skill cards. Now then, I'll stop by somewhere, so see you at home."

After waving his hand, Adam changed his route and moved away.

The direction was north.

'... He's not following the observer, is he?'

But I couldn't think of any motivation for him to do that.

It must be a coincidence that their directions were alike.

'Now, then.'

When Adam disappeared completely beyond the horizon, I asked the system.

"How much are the experience points required for purchasing the [Destructive Sword]?"

The dagger that Angelica was holding in my previous life was the only means to break the dimensional bird's egg.

After the SSS-Class break, most of the surviving Hunters forwarded their experience points to Angelica, and she exchanged them for the [Destructive Sword].

'Now that I think about it, it was all a show. It's as if we trashed our points away.'

That was when the guild members, including me, died in the past life, and the tutorial finally ended.

Angelica would've stayed on Earth and not only avoided accepting the main quest, but she wouldn't have broken the dimensioned egg.

She would've hatched the egg, opened a whole bunch of gates far more than before, and then left to a different dimension.

The fate of the hunters and humankind would've obviously been left behind with the helplessly innumerable gates.

'This life will be different.'

The system replied.

- That item cannot be purchased at this stage.

It seems that its item information wasn't disclosed until the Tower of Choice appeared.

'Well, I didn't mean to buy it now anyway.'

I wasn't even determined yet to break the egg in my current life.

The purpose was to check if the points needed were the same as my previous life, but it wasn't possible at the moment.

'Then, as originally planned...'

I inquired again.

"What are the experience points required for purchasing the [Aurora of Stability]?"

- 200,000 points at this point.

That's pretty good.

'It's a lot cheaper than the points it required in the previous life!'

If it's that way, there was no problem buying as much as I needed.

"I'll exchange eight for experience points."

- 1.6 million points are required in total. Would you like to purchase it?

It's a huge amount of experience points that I'd never received or consumed in my previous life.

Furthermore, I had never heard anyone use up that many experience points before the Tower of Choice rose.

'There were so many competitors who received the screening quest.'

After experiencing the SSS-Class break, all hunters were united, but before the Earth was devastated, each country and guild's power was divided.

At that time, there were even fewer cases where one person had more than 500,000, let alone 1 million.

Therefore, it was unimaginable in my previous life to buy eight [Aurora of Stability], but...

I didn't think it was a waste.

'If we continue with the quest, we'll get more points.'

I answered without hesitation.

"Purchase!"

The moment I replied with determination...

Shhh!

A ray of light poured in front of me while I was flying.

I grabbed the item with my psychokinesis without stopping.

"I haven't seen you in a long time."

The eight crystals were similar in shape to tulip flowers processed from jewels.

'Now, shall I proceed with the next step?'

*

"Mr. Guild Master, you're back sooner than I thought. You said it could take a few days."

I responded by nodding my head to Secretary Kim, who welcomed me at the office building.

"It worked out quickly."

"What about Mr. Abrams?"

"He said he was stopping by somewhere. By the way, could you set up a meeting with the Hunter Management Department?"

"Even though you've just arrived?"

He looked boggled, but instead of asking more questions, Secretary Kim immediately prepared to take notes.

"I'm sure the person of interest for the talk is the Hunter Management Department Minister?"

"Of course."

"What should I say?"

I spoke in an indifferent tone.

"Just tell them it's related to every single dungeon gate in our country's territory."

Secretary Kim's eyes grew bigger.

*

As soon as Secretary Kim contacted them, the Hunter Management Department responded quickly.

The Hunter Management Department set the meeting for the very next day.

"... Is that true?"

The Minister of Hunter Management Department, whose face we saw after a long time, couldn't hide his trembling eyes as if he couldn't believe what he heard.

"Haha... My, my."

In front of the [Aurora of Stability], which I took out as a sample, a government-employed hunter accompanying the minister laid down a scroll.

"Please understand, Guild Master. Of course, we are not doubtful. However, to make what you requested happen, a lot of people will have to be on the move, so the basic verification is..."

I spoke with a smile.

"I understand. Go ahead and do it."

The Awakened tore the scroll.

The [Analysis] magic was invoked, and we read the system message that appeared.

Then the minister's face brightened.

"Oh, my God."

There were excitement and thrill in his voice.

"You're really, really amazing! It's a blessing to have someone like you in our country!"

I spoke calmly in front of the minister, who couldn't hide his astonishment.

"How long will it take to be ready?"

"Give me three days. That much time is enough for reporting and execution. I'll put my seat on the line to make this happen."

I nodded.

"Then, I will move quietly by myself on the day of implementation. I think that will be easier."

"At your convenience!"

I told the minister, who looked at me with a fascinating look on his face.

"As always.... I'll request you to do this without announcing this to the press, too."

If it's officially announced, I'll have to explain it in detail.

"Of course!"

The minister guaranteed it as if not to make me worry, but I was aware.

'The secret may be kept if it's done alone by the minister, but it is his subordinates who carry out the order anyway.'

Meanwhile, rumors were bound to spread.

There was no evidence to prove it, but rumors would spread so much that everyone had no choice but to listen closely.

That something that's going to happen in three days was related to Seo Jin-Wook of Celestial Dragon!

*

The day after Seo Jin-Wook visited the ministry, strange movements had been observed throughout the country.

"Why are there so many helicopters going back and forth today?"

Large-scale logging took place at the high mountain tops throughout the South Korean territory, and soldiers were seen guarding those areas.

The media also reported with interest and asked the government what was going on, but there were no replies.

One evening, when those open spaces on eight mountains all over the country that their identity and purpose were prepared, Seo Jin-Wook was flying across the sky while staying hidden with his [Stardust Wing] unfolded.

'Shall I start from here?'

It was the mountain top outside Gyeonggi-do.

Soldiers were maintaining strict security in the vacant lot surrounded by barbed wires.

As Seo Jin-Wook showed up, a public official of the Hunter Management Department bowed down to greet him.

"We're ready."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Expectations filled the eyes of the public official who raised his head after greeting.

"Then, this way, please."

A barbed-wire fence surrounding the vacant lot opened.

Seo Jin-Wook went inside and took out an item, and buried it in the ground.

He raised his body again after setting up a barrier so that people other than him couldn't touch it.

He then leaked Mana out so it could be triggered by itself as time went by.

"It's done."

"Already?!"

He nodded his head.

With his delicate control, he manipulated it in a way that the item would be activated by the Mana stimulating it at a certain time.

"Let's move to the next location."

"Yes, I'll notify them!"

Since then, the same thing had been repeated in seven places in the South Korean territory.

After installing [Aurora of Stability] in all the spots, Seo Jin-Wook waited for the right time.

"Let's see."

All of them activated the moment the set time he had been waiting for approached.

Paht!

Manas planted in [Aurora of Stability] installed in the eight locations were activated all at once.

The tulip's petal-like shaped object that seemed to be made out of jewel opened up as if it was blooming.

At the center, a colorful ball of light shot up the sky.

When the change began, it was still before the night fell. Seo Jin-Wook moved so fast it reached a point where most of the people were still awake even after he passed by all the 8 locations.

"Huh? What's that?"

People pointed to the sky from all over the country.

"Are those fireworks?"

shaped balls of light soared into the sky without a resistance.

When it reached a certain altitude, it spread in all directions and covered the black night sky.

And a feast of color unfolded above everyone's head.

The flash exploded and overlapped brilliantly in several layers.

Between many people, the same conversations were exchanged.

"T-that... Isn't that an aurora?"

*

The moment the auroras suddenly appeared all over South Korea, Destructional Blade exploration team 3 was about to enter a dungeon's Gate.

"The shift starts now!"

The exploration team 2, which had entered first, came out one by one with worn off faces.

"Wow, this dungeon doesn't get any easier as we go on. The internal structure is too complicated."

The handover continued among the team leaders.

After listening to the 2nd team leader that just came out from the dungeon, a shadow was cast on the 3rd team leader's face.

"That's a big problem. It's been three months since this Gate turned into 'slightly unstable,' hasn't it?"

Statistics showed a 95% chance of becoming very unstable within a month.

However, the estimated progress was presumed to be not even half.

"It feels like it's going to turn 'very unstable' while we are in it."

In that state, it was the worst scenario if the dungeon evolved to S-Class.

He felt his heart tensing up.

"If we don't Clear it as soon as possible..."

When he was about to stiffen his expression with worries, he heard a voice calling out for him.

"T-t-team leader!"

A team member who needed to enter the Gate as soon as the shift began ran towards him.

The 3rd team leader asked as if it was absurd.

"What? Why are you coming to me instead of going in?"

"The-the-the-the Gate... Gate...!"

His face was distorted with annoyance.

"What the hell is up with the Gate, you punk? Speak properly!"

"Team Leader, go and see for yourself!"

The team leader approached the Gate, swearing inwardly.

It was a circular, blue flash that seemed to be no different than the usual.

"What's wrong with the Gate? It's the same as usual!"

"Y-you have to get closer!"

He took a step closer as he said.

A system message came up in his view.

It was describing the state of the dungeon connected with the Gate.

Level: A Maximum number of entrants: 5 (currently 0 entrants) Clear Conditions: Annihilation of monsters in dungeons. Time remaining until evolution: After 182 days, 8 hours, 2 minutes, it evolves into S-Class.

So far, it was no different from what he saw before.

"What am I supposed to...!"

He stops talking and suddenly froze.

"... ?"

He murmured with a bewildered voice.

"What is... this?"

Like other hunters, he read the message over and over again that appeared before him.

However, the characters that came up didn't change.

"This dungeon was clearly 'slightly unstable,' wasn't it?"

Very stable, slightly stable, normal, slightly unstable, and finally, very unstable.

The five stages representing the dungeon state always proceeded in one direction.

As time went by, it only became more unstable, and there was no concept of reverse regression.

Until that day, that was the logic.

But...

"What's wrong with the message all of a sudden?"

It was the same when he rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.

The team leader read the last line.

"Status... normal!"

The dungeon Gate that was definitely slightly unstable went back to 'normal,' regressing a step back.

Level: A Maximum number of entrants: 5 (currently 0 entrants) Clear Conditions: Destruction of monsters in dungeons Time remaining until evolution: After 182 days, 8 hours, 2 minutes, it evolves into S-Class. Status: Normal

Furthermore, underneath it, there was another sentence that didn't exist.

"... With the effect of a wide-area item, it suppresses the rate of change in status for a certain period? What is it talking about?"

The confused hunters hadn't noticed it yet.

Under the aurora that suddenly appeared, a similar phenomenon was happening to every Gate in the country!