Chapter 119: 119

Disappointment (2)

In the first place, negotiations would only start once one of the parties involved told the other to get lost.

I wasn’t in a position to save face like an aristocrat when Earth might be damned. I and the spirit battled with our tongues for a while.

My goal was to check the system’s limits– to figure out the limitations on the compensation that could be provided in return for nerfing the EX-Class item. It was the most significant profit and opportunity that I could hold in my hands!

The spirit, inputting the suggested conditions in the Mana screen numerous times, analyzed the resulting value. The Archid characters quickly filled the screen. Not knowing that I wasn’t illiterate, she didn’t boldly lie but rather continued to conversate passively. It meant that she didn’t mention everything that had popped up on the screen. – Mr. Seo Jin-Wook, there is one thing that you overlooked. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s beneficial to summon the Tower of Choice right away quickly. “That doesn’t matter since we will be the ones to decide when to climb the summoned tower. And if we’re going to summon it anyway, wouldn’t it be profitable if we could lessen the required effort, resources, time, and sacrifice? while also taking all the experience points that I’m supposed to receive, as per my request, that is.” – You want me to give you points without doing the quests? That ‘one lump sum’ thing is impossible. Honestly, I thought so as well. But I didn’t make it evident in my expression. – It is impossible to receive rewards without quests. The same thing was written on the screen that she was looking at. However, she didn’t tell me the explanations in the lines after. Instead, she ended her sentence there. She was pretending as if it was troublesome. ‘This is why I shouldn’t relax right now.’ I asked the question that I had set aside until that opportune moment. “How hard will you be limiting the performance of the EX-Class item? If compared to the nerf ratio, how much would that be?” As If the spirit understood it as me trying to negotiate slowly, she replied quickly. – Considering the current civilization of Earth and your abilities, it will be adjusted to 10% of the normal state. I sighed deeply as if I was discouraged. “You will cut off 90% of the original performance and leave only 10%?” – But as I told you, once you enter the main quest, it will revert to its normal state… Only then did I leak my real intention. “If I have to enter the main quest to regain 90% of its performance which had been locked away, shouldn’t the journey to the main quest be just as easy to complete? That way, the penalties will be able to nullify each other. I think only then will it be enough to be considered as equivalent exchange.” The next sentence on the screen, which she did not mention, was that ‘the difficulty can be adjusted to a certain extent.’ – … You’re not asking me to lower the difficulty level by one-tenth of the original, are you? I nodded my head with pride and confidence. “I would like to request that!” It was a great opportunity. First of all, if I looked at the contents of the quest that I needed to solve right away… – Quest Name: Verification of Qualification (2) – Description: To climb the Tower of Choice, you must prove your qualification as a worthy Awakened. Among the dungeons opened in your world, attack three dungeons in which dragons appear as bosses. – Rewards: From 2.5 million experience points based on contribution rate. – This quest can also be shared with non-chosen. It wasn’t entirely impossible to finish it since the members of humanity from my past life had done it. The problem was that since dungeons, where dragons served as the ‘boss,’ were not that common at that point in time, it left us with probably no other choice but to Clear the Düsseldorf Gate in Germany to kill three of them. The boss of that place was a fearsome dragon that could be referred to as the ‘ancient dragon‘ no matter which standard of any dimension was used to measure it. The dungeon level was an SS-Class, and the limit of entrants was as many as 500 people. With the entrant limit being ten times more than the entrant limit of China’s dungeon, it should have jumped a notch to receive an SSS-Class.

‘The status of the place is ‘very stable,’ and due to that, the government doesn’t have any motivation to Clear it at the risk of sacrificing their own hunters. If we’re going to Clear it, we have to do it as discreetly as possible, but… In order to accomplish such a feat, I will have to use up all of the Mana that I’ve saved up so far all at once.’

The trade would allow us to gain the excellent opportunity to save that many cores.

After a heated scuffle, the spirit and I were finally able to reach an agreement.

– … Any further than that is not allowed! Instead of lowering the quest difficulty by 50%, I will conclude by letting you receive the experience points rewards without any changes from the original arrangement!

I made an expression as if that it was a shame.

“No matter how much it may be, it is such a waste for the item to be sealed with one-tenth of its func–”

– Why don’t you consider what you’re supposed to receive? It doesn’t make sense that you’d get to reduce the difficulty of the quests and receive the same reward in the first place!

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“But that means it’s not ‘absolutely impossible,’ right?” The spirit made a declaration before I went further, making a fuss. – The agreed content will immediately be activated! Weeing! The list of screening quests that I could see was reversed, sorted out, and turned into what we agreed upon. – Quest Name: Verification of Qualification (2) – Description: … attack one dungeon in which a dragon appears as a boss. – Rewards: From 2.5 million experience points based on contribution rate. The content of the next quest, which would be linked to it, must’ve been changed as well. – Now, take it! She passed over the item to me as if she was throwing it. The time that had been frozen began to move again, and the EX-Class item I chose revealed itself. It was a metallic cube that was as big as a human head. ‘… Woah, what kind of Mana is this?’ The pattern of the power that the box held was so splendid and magnificent that it reached a point that it was almost terrifying. The moment I touched it– Paht! The item description popped up. [Imperial Army Tactical Fortress Construction Kit (Rank: EX)] – Item Description: The key power of the Sebrarian Imperial Army that made any space into a battlefield at the user’s will, is the kit to construct a tactical fortress. The completed fort is unable to pass through Gates due to its mass and density. It would be wiser to begin the construction in the dimension where the fortress will be operated. ※ Precautions: Administrative measures under no. 100-1-6888 of the Business Regulation restricts the complete manifestation of its performance. Suppose the dimension on which this kit is operated is in the tutorial phase. In such a case, the number of complete forts that can be constructed will be limited to one. The condition will be applied regardless of whether construction materials have been secured. Even after I read it thoroughly, since I couldn’t see the completed form of the fortress, I wasn’t able to get a clear picture. However, about two possibilities passed through my head. “… When you said 10%, didn’t you mean that the performance of the fortress was going to be reduced?” The spirit shook her head. – No. Given the civilization level of Earth and your ability, I explained the ratio from the calculation of having determined that you could collect resources to build about ten fortresses. “Does it mean that we can only build one when we could have originally built ten?” – That is right. I was about to feel a little embarrassed. The condition was a bit different from the penalty that I thought. Without showing it in my face, I asked one more question. “If ever-” The kit in my hands was definitely an artifact. And, I had already succeeded in copying and mass-producing other kinds of artifacts. Although, of course, there would be differences in size and grade. “If we can fully understand the operating principles of this fortress… Wait, this operates by Mana, right?” – Yes, of course. “Can the system limit us from creating replicas of it? What if we were to build a fortress differently than through this kit?” The spirit snorted as if the notion was absurd. – I’d like to advise you not to try, as it would be a waste of time. It will take less time to enter the main quest normally than it takes to study it. But my head kept spinning. What if we built one of those and then figured out the underlying technical principles, even if we didn’t have to replicate the entire fortress? Wouldn’t it be a great help to the overall increase in the power of humanity? ‘The problem is the building materials. And it must take a tremendous amount of Mana cores to operate it.’ In the worst-case scenario, I also had to consider the possibility that Earthlings’ current knowledge level wouldn’t be able to keep up with it. ‘But its value is high enough to try.’ While I was lost in thought for a moment, the spirit continued to input a tremendous amount of information on the screen. Reading through it, I realized it was some kind of a follow-up report. “…” As I continued to stare at it, she was surprised when she saw me after raising her head. Yet, as if nothing happened… – Hmm? I didn’t realize you’re still here. ‘What you truly mean is that you want me to bug off already.’ The method to return to the original dimension from where I was was simple. I just had to say what I wanted with my free will that could be deciphered as my desire to go back. But it wasn’t the time yet. There’s one more question in my mind. “This is just a minor question, but…” – Yes? It was a mental wave mixed in with a bit of caution. I held the steering-wheel-shaped item in my hands that I acquired right after the dungeon Clear. [Dungeon Key] Item description: This item is given when having completed a dungeon Clear. Once used for any purpose, it will disappear to prevent reusability. 1. If you use this key on a Gate, you can close that Gate. 2. If you use this key on a dungeon’s boundaries, you can expand that dungeon’s boundaries. “With this, I was planning to expand the boundary instead of closing the dungeon door right away.” To put it in a commonly used expression, we often said we’re going to ‘re-run the dungeon.’ Then I would be able to attack the dungeon that I had already Cleared and, as a result, receive another reward aside from the actual compensation: – And? The dungeon’s state was ‘slightly unstable,’ and there was no immediate concern about it collapsing. Therefore, it’s possible for a re-run. Usually, the additional rewards that came out when re-Clearing were lower in terms of grade, so the purpose of hunting and farming monsters was greater, but… The factor that shouldn’t be forgotten in that aspect was that the dungeon we were in was of SS-Class. If we were to re-Clear, although an EX-Class item might never come out again, we could aim for the SSS-Class ones. ‘The Matap Guild bastards had re-run the Shepherd dungeon five times. If lucky, there’s also a dungeon that’s been re-run ten times.’ I continued my question to the spirit. “We will find out once we get to it, but I’m asking out of curiosity. This dungeon, how many more times can we re-… No, how many more times can we expand the boundaries?” The spirit glanced at the screen… And answered my question with an unpleasant smile around her lips. – Once. “What?” I thought I had heard it wrong. – It can be extended up to once. Any more than that is impossible. A dungeon is already connected to another dimension in the space that it would expand to. Whatever the purpose may be, peace or invasion, you can go across by breaking the dungeon boundaries on the other side if you want. The disappointment brought by the unexpected situation distorted my face. * “…” After hearing all the things that happened there, Nate and Hibiki remained silent for a since they couldn’t easily speak up. “… Uh, so. Jin-Wook. The reason why you didn’t look so happy was…” I spoke in a gruff manner. “Yeah, I thought it was a great opportunity to take advantage of the SS-Class dungeon five or ten times without any distraction between us… And it turns out we can only do it once!” “…” “…” While we were talking, Nate’s subordinate circled and collected artifacts and Mana cores. Among them, [Scepter of Ishad] was handed over to Hibiki. “Thank you.” She spoke with a calm voice, but her face was blooming. ‘So, the weapon she used in her previous life returns to Hibiki’s hands like this.’ In the previous life, it was an artifact leaked to the U.S. after the collapse of China, and eventually, it landed on Hibiki’s possession. I spoke with the key to the dungeon in one hand. “Now, shall we get to work?” Nate’s eyes traveled back and forth between the three SSS-Class hunters and me. Then he spoke in a tone that told me he had finally realized. “Oh, the job that requires Awaken’s labor meant…” “Yes, what else can we do with the Awakened, aside from Clearing the dungeons?” Their faces became distorted when they noticed the flow of conversation. Klaus shouted at us in panic. “No, wait a minute. Seo Jin-Wook! We just finished holding on against monster waves for three days… We’re going to do it again right away?” They couldn’t do anything about it since they already agreed to the contract. Personally, I thought it was only proper to offer that much help to their savior of life. “Yes.” I was planning to go to the dungeon boundary and expand in that manner. “We’re going to Clear this dungeon one more time- the six of us. Only then will we return to Earth.” * Beijing, China. “You closed the portal connecting to the second stage?!” Military commanders and senior intelligence officials, who figured out what happened in the dungeon where Seo Jin-Wook and his party entered, felt dizzy. “But that was the last bastion of operations!” They had planned to shut down the portal only when what they did to the Awakened foreigners failed, but that plan had a high risk of being known to the public. Complete destruction of evidence. Stage 2 was a type of instant dungeon. Even if the portal was operated again, the chance of it connecting back to the exact place where the hunters were stuck was unlikely. It couldn’t be guaranteed even if they attempted to do so thousands or tens of thousands of times. “The problem is that the portal was turned off while the dungeon key was left in stage two.” A gloomy scenario passed through everyone’s head. What if the dungeon status turned to ‘very unstable’ and the collapse began? “Calm down. This is at least the lesser evil. The worst situation will come when things become known to the outside world. At least we avoided that, didn’t we? Since the witnesses have all become dimensionally lost.” “… T-that’s right. We just have to look at the system message at the Gate and wait for the number of survivors to reach zero. After that, let’s send someone to retrieve the dungeon key!” “Do you think it’s retrievable? It’s like gambling. It might be faster for the Gate to collapse than to find the key…” “Then we have no choice but to turn the surrounding area of the Gate into a ‘lost land.'” “No, that’s an SS-Class dungeon! We can’t even predict how much of our territory we’re going to lose!” “Well, I’m glad the Gate isn’t in the city.” The high-ranking official who gathered them spoke reassuringly. “It’s already spilled water.” He continued with a calm voice. “At least by covering up the incident and having removed the foreign hunters that we couldn’t secure, we should consider it half a success. Don’t be afraid that the Gate will collapse. Let’s wait a little more leisurely until the number of survivors drops to zero. Of course, rescue teams should be dispatched in a way that would put up a show to the foreign press. After that, we’ll open and close the portal thousands, tens of thousands of times, to go to retrieve the key that should be rolling around next to their bodies.” They never imagined it in their dreams.

The dungeon survivors, whom the officials believed at that time had been completely rid of, were already preparing for a second Clear.

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