NOVEL NEXT Chapter 295
Chapter 295. Grudia
‘What am I looking at right now?’
Lee Mi-a rubbed her eyes.
The identities of the two men rushing over from a distance were Tamura Kenta and Tamura Toshirou, the co-representatives of Raiku.
Although she didn’t know their faces well until they met in person, Mi-a had heard their names often enough in the industry to know they were famous blacksmiths.
The items they created came with exorbitantly high premiums, and there were countless celebrities who traveled from far-off lands to Japan just to purchase their goods.
“Master!”
“Master! Are you leaving now!!”
However, those two blacksmiths were calling Nam Ho-yeol their master.
It seemed like they were saddened by the news of his departure from Raiku.
Nam Ho-yeol spoke in a slightly tired voice.
“Please stop it already…”
“Stop it?!”
“Once a master, always a master!”
They certainly were brought on for education, yet they were treating him as their master instead.
—What’s up with them all of a sudden?
Even a sylph, who was not human, couldn’t comprehend the scene before her.
In the end, Yoo Ji-han could not hold back his rising curiosity and asked,
“What’s going on here?”
“Ho-yeol has amazing talent!”
“He figured out how to use materials we couldn’t even touch!”
Their rough voices hardly concealed their excitement.
The Tamura brothers were in awe of the extraordinary skills Nam Ho-yeol had shown at Raiku.
“While we might have shared some small know-how, the ability to understand and grasp the properties of materials belongs to Ho-yeol alone.”
“Materials that were rotting away in the warehouse have transformed into valuable equipment in just one day!”
“To have a talent like this monopolized by your guild… I’m truly envious.”
What the Tamura brothers praised most was Nam Ho-yeol’s ability to recognize materials.
Even when handling new materials for the first time, he understood how to process them for the best outcome.
Nam Ho-yeol waved his hands, claiming the praise was too much.
But it was the words of the Tamura brothers, considered the best blacksmiths, so there was no room for doubt.
“Squawk! Our blacksmith turned out to be more amazing than we thought?”
“Master, here’s my business card. If you ever get kicked out of Sweet Fun, please contact me!”
“The door at Raiku is always wide open!”
“Um? Is it appropriate to say that in front of the Guild Master…?”
“Oh dear, my apologies.”
At Kim Si-hu’s remark, the Tamura brothers toned down their excitement and cleared their throats.
“This is a gift to mark the completion of your training.”
“No, this is…!”
Nam Ho-yeol’s eyes widened as he looked at the item Tamura Kenta handed over.
A transparent crystal, shimmering with light and the size of the palm of his hand.
It was a special metal that Nam Ho-yeol had figured out the processing method for this time.
“We haven’t named this metal yet.”
“But we plan to call it Namo, after Nam Ho-yeol!”
“W-wait, that’s too embarrassing?!”
“Absolutely not! I refuse to yield on the naming!”
The Tamura brothers insisted on calling the metal Namo.
Unable to overturn their intention, Nam Ho-yeol eventually nodded in agreement.
Yoo Ji-han patted his shoulder and said,
“You had quite a pleasant time.”
“It’s all thanks to Ji-han…”
*
It didn’t take long for Yoo Ji-han’s party to return to Korea after finishing their business in Japan.
Perhaps due to the recent terror attack, the security checks at the Japanese airport had become much more stringent.
“[No way!]”
“[What’s going on?]”
“[Those people from the news!]”
As soon as their identities were revealed, the complicated procedures flew by, allowing them to exit smoothly.
Entry into Korea was just as easy.
“We’ve come from the Japanese embassy.”
“Excuse me? Where?”
“To thank you for stopping the terror incident that occurred earlier…”
Click! Click! Click!
They took pictures with embassy staff who had been waiting since morning upon hearing the news of their arrival today.
“Mr. Yoo Ji-han! Just a moment!”
“Miss Lee Mi-a! How do you feel now that Kim Hyun-tae’s party hasn’t returned…?”
After about five minutes of dodging the reporters trailing behind them,
Nam Ho-yeol, who got in the vehicle prepared at the airport, gasped for air.
“Do you always go through this kind of thing?”
“Nowadays, it’s almost routine.”
“Being a hero isn’t exactly a comfortable job, is it?”
Nam Ho-yeol shook his head as he recalled the pictures taken beside Yoo Ji-han’s party.
At that, Kim Si-hu chuckled and said,
“Ho-yeol, you’re not in a position to say that.”
“Why?”
“A blacksmith who can create artifacts.”
“…Huh?”
“The only person in the world whom the co-representative of Raiku calls master!”
“N-no, that’s just a joke!”
“You’ll soon be just as much of a headache for us.”
“R-really?”
“When that time comes, I’ll even assign you a bodyguard.”
“Even bodyguards…”
Due to swinging hammers between home and workshop, Nam Ho-yeol had rarely been out, but
he suddenly realized that his situation was anything but ordinary.
At that moment, Yoo Ji-han received a call from Yoon Do-ha.
“Hello.”
—Ji-han! Are you okay?
“Yes.”
—Good! Let’s meet at 8 PM tonight.
“Tonight?”
Click!
The call ended just eight seconds after it started.
Scratching his head, Yoo Ji-han said,
“Everyone take a good rest today, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
After dropping each party member off at their homes,
Yoo Ji-han put his things inside the house and headed to the Hero Department.
Lee Mi-a was with him.
“I can go alone, you know.”
“I’m just bored.”
For the sake of boredom, Mi-a insisted on following Yoo Ji-han.
At the Hero Department, Yang Ji-cheol was waiting for them as they had previously contacted him.
“When will we be able to head to Grudia?”
“The earliest can be tomorrow.”
“You mentioned that you need the party leader’s signature.”
“Yes. Just sign on six documents.”
The procedure to head to Grudia was nearly complete.
Confirming that there was no one around, Yoo Ji-han said,
“Regarding the montage I sent you a while ago…”
“Oh, that’s being investigated by Dice.”
“Dice?”
“Yoon Do-ha got really angry after hearing about your accident.”
The news about the woman who borrowed Kim Si-hu’s mobile phone was that she was being sought after in the Dice Guild.
Yoon Do-ha probably wanted to meet up with him for that reason.
“I have a pen here.”
“Alright.”
Yoo Ji-han signed the prepared documents.
Meanwhile, Lee Mi-a quietly looked over the documents and then—
Bang!
Suddenly, the door of the office burst open,
and a man rushed in.
“Ji-cheol! Ji-cheol!”
“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“T-the Dimension Phone is reacting!”
“What?!”
After Kim Si-hu’s attempt before leaving for Japan,
the Dimension Phone, which had shown no changes whatsoever, had reacted.
Yang Ji-cheol’s face turned anxious.
“Which dimension is the phone connected to?”
“Grudia!”
“…!”
Of all dimensions, it had to be connected to the Grudia expedition team.
Yoo Ji-han and Lee Mi-a stood up almost simultaneously.
“Lead the way.”
They hurried after the man running and arrived in the room where the phone was kept.
Zzt! Zzzt!
As he said, sounds were coming from the Dimension Phone.
“Can you hear me? Can you hear me?”
“It seems the voice isn’t transmitting properly.”
“Keep trying.”
Yoo Ji-han listened closely to the irregular noise.
About three minutes passed.
—Is anyone there?!
As the noise started to clear, a woman’s voice came through the speaker.
Yoo Ji-han sensed from just her voice that she was a foreigner.
Korean after going through a translator always had an awkward feel to it.
—Fuck! Is this supposed to be a phone? You said it was a phone!
—Anyone, just please respond!
—Ugh…
Her voice sounded very urgent.
It seemed her situation was far from good as she gasped for breath.
“Give it to me.”
“Oh, alright!”
Yoo Ji-han took the Dimension Phone from the Hero Department staff.
Having actually used the Dimension Phone before, he knew how it worked.
‘It should be something like this…’
The energy source to activate the Dimension Phone was not electricity but magical power.
Remembering the process, Yoo Ji-han infused a bit of magical power into the phone.
“Can you hear me?”
—…Huh? What was that noise just now.
“If you can hear me, respond.”
—I can hear you! I can hear you!
As a reply came from the speaker, the Hero Department staff opened their eyes wide.
For the first time, success came from a phone that had previously been completely unresponsive with just one attempt!
Yoo Ji-han raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence before the commotion around him broke out.
“I am Yoo Ji-han from Sweet Fun.”
—If it’s Yoo Ji-han… you must have gone to a different world?! How did you get back?!
“First, please tell me your name and affiliation.”
—I’m Grace Wolf from Black Harts!
“Black Harts?”
Black Harts is one of the guilds in America.
Sweet Fun had previously sold the corpses of mutation monsters, specifically Gargantua and Monchikins, at a decent price to Black Harts at the auction house.
At that time, they felt grateful for the funds they had managed at a decent price.
“Grace. I want to help, so please briefly explain the current situation.”
—…Our expedition has failed.
“Failed?”
—Damn it! The region we first arrived in was the territory of the Dark Elves!
Grace’s sharp outburst made Yoo Ji-han furrow his brow.
Of all places, they had to land in the Dark Elves’ territory.
According to tales from those who came over from Grudia, they would have received no hospitality whatsoever.
—I had no choice but to flee from those who attacked us without warning.
“Are the Dark Elves really that powerful?”
—In terms of attack power, we were stronger, but they were simply too many!
“I suppose communication was impossible.”
—Those bastards prioritize magic and bows over conversation…
Immediately upon arriving in Grudia, the expedition team found themselves attacked by Dark Elves.
Heroes from countries in Asia, such as Korea and Japan, fled together in one direction,
while heroes from the US, Canada, and other English-speaking countries ran away in the opposite direction.
That was to confuse the pursuers.
“But why is it that I don’t see anyone next to you?”
—Everyone scattered. It was the best way to survive.
“The Dimension Phone shouldn’t have been given to you, Grace.”
—The very first one was given to my brother, Robert Wolf. He said it was a nuisance to carry around, so I held on to it instead.
Yoo Ji-han turned to confirm this.
The Hero Department staff, who had been looking over the expedition list, nodded in agreement with her words.
But then—
—More than anything, we need a blacksmith! We need a blacksmith!
“A blacksmith?”
—Robert said not too long ago that in order to use dimensional magic, we need the power of the World Tree! And to obtain that, a superb blacksmith is absolutely necessary.
“I’d like to hear more details… Where exactly are you now? Where did Robert go?”
—I don’t know!
“Where’s Sian Pierce, the leader of the expedition team?”
—I don’t know, I don’t know! Damn it! Our gear is all broken, and we’ve been pursued by search parties day after day. They expect us to find Baek Kang-cheon? How do they expect us to do that when we’re struggling just to survive?!
Grace continued muttering in an agitated tone.
Her mental state, being left alone in an unfamiliar world, was incredibly unstable.
Just as Yoo Ji-han tried to reassure her by continuing the conversation—
—Ah, so you were hiding here!
—Aah!
A voice distinctly different from Grace’s interrupted, followed by screams and a loud crashing sound through the speaker.
—Huh! A rebellious human, are you?
—Where on earth did these guys come from…?
—Take this human to prison!
—Wait a minute. What the hell is this?
Zzt!
The call abruptly ended.
The Dimension Phone had once again gone silent.
Yoo Ji-han, who tried to reconnect, ultimately placed the phone down on the desk.
“…”
“…”
“…”
A heavy silence fell around the Dimension Phone, as if everyone’s breath had been stolen.
Nothing could be heard except the sound of their breathing.
Yoo Ji-han exchanged a silent glance with Lee Mi-a.
“Ji-cheol.”
“…Yes?”
“I’ll depart exactly two days from now.”
The goal of the Grudia expedition was to rescue the Rank 1 Hero, Baek Kang-cheon, who had been transported to Grudia.
But they were currently in no position to even take care of themselves, having scattered in disarray.
It felt like trying to put out a wildfire after heading into the mountains to prevent it from spreading.
‘Don’t die before I find you.’
Now was the time to go put out the flames.