NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27: Star, The Golden Key (2)
“The rules state that Administrators cannot interfere with Dungeon Quests…” Herald muttered, trying to weasel out of the request.
Crossing his arms, Chang-Sun just snorted, saying, “Stop talking nonsense. Those rules can change depending on the situation.”
“…”
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but you’ll also have to stop writing the <Report> about me,” Chang-Sun said with a shrug.
Herald briefly had a long face, because he had already finished the <Report> he intended to submit to his superiors. However, if Chang-Sun took away the Reporting Rights, the <Report> would also be taken away, meaning all of Herald’s efforts would go down the drain.
‘…I’m definitely going to be reprimanded, so I hope I can get away with justa salary cut,’ Herald thought bitterly.
Just as Chang-Sun had said, an Administrator could interfere with Dungeon Quests in a contingency, but they had to face consequences for their interference.
“Alright, fine. I will grant your favor,” Herald said, adjusting his monocle.
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ laughs her head off, saying the Administrator’s bewildered expression looks funny.]
Pretending not to have noticed Pabilsag and Jörmungandr’s amused looks, Herald lightly flicked his fingers.
[The closed stone gate has been opened with the Administrator’s power!]
Beyond the stone gate, there was a hallway lined with arches, at the end of which lay a giant stone chamber. The room had a tall altar at the center, which meant Chang-Sun would have to climb its twelve steps in order to get to the top. Atop the altar was a gold coffin with bronze braziers on either side of it, where the tomb’s owner appeared to be resting.
Without hesitation, Chang-Sun entered the stone chamber. Its walls and domed ceiling were lined with holy icons that began shining brightly as he entered.
Whoosh!
[You have entered the boss monster’s room!]
[Several curses have begun to affect you. From now on, the Dungeon’s owner will try to seize your body. You must climb up to the altar and destroy the gold coffin while resisting until the end.]
[If you fail to resist, you may lose your body, so be careful.]
Unfortunately, it seemed the ‘holy icons’ were actually unholy ones. The eyes of the figures lining the walls all turned red, emanating a force that tried to infiltrate Chang-Sun’s mind.
Badump!
Badump!
Chang-Sun’s eyes also turned red as a sinister voice echoed inside his head, making him stop walking.
『How dare such a lowly being as you try to interrupt Our eternal sleep?! Give me your flesh…!』
The voice gave Chang-Sun three orders, throwing his mind into turmoil.
Obey!
Worship!
Stand in awe!
The air in the chamber weighed heavily on Chang-Sun’s shoulders, making his knees creak beneath the pressure.
[Hypnosis has begun.]
[Brainwashing has begun.]
The boss monster room’s quest was very simple—Chang-Sun had to protect his mind from the tomb’s owner, whose spirit was all that remained after death. Despite how straightforward it seemed to be, the objective was anything but simple or easy, as the tomb’s owner had a very high divine class before their death. No ordinary Player would be able to resist such an attack, even if only the owner’s spirit remained.
‘It’s not going to be easy, is it? Even he won’t be able to defeat this easily,’ Herald thought as he wrote the last section of the <Report>.
It was true that Chang-Sun was something special, considering how he had perfectly cleared the Tutorial and wiped out every other Player in this Dungeon. Chang-Sun’s combat instincts, which Herald could only consider an innate talent, even made Herald exclaim in awe from time to time.
However, that only applied to Chang-Sun’s physical prowess. His mental strength could very well be different. Many physically strong people were also mentally strong, but there was no guarantee of that, as they were different kinds of strength. If Chang-Sun were mentally strong, he would likely have become a wizard or a cleric early on; however, from what Herald had seen, he always preferred to use his body in combat.
Those who preferred to fight using their bodies often trusted their physical prowess so much that they were often negligent in cultivating their mental strength. Herald thought Chang-Sun could be one of those people; the Chang-Sun he had seen so far was incredibly arrogant, the farthest thing from humble.
‘Wait.’
Herald belatedly realized what he had written in the first chapter of the <Report>.
Chang-Sun’s class was Rune Master. That was the wizard-type secret class that leveled up at a slower pace than any other wizard class, and had incredibly difficult skills! Without great persistence and a stable foundation of mental strength, someone could never be successful as a Rune Master. Despite all the disadvantages, however, Chang-Sun was leveling up at a ridiculous speed as a Rune Master, even without any Guardian!
Since Chang-Sun rarely used runes directly and only treated them as supplementary tools in combat, Herald had overlooked the fact that Chang-Sun was a Rune Master.
“This is unbelievable…!” Herald exclaimed, feeling as if he wanted to scream…
Booommm!
Rumbleee―!
…just as a loud explosion shook the stone chamber.
Herald saw a cloud of white mist being repelled forcefully after trying to possess Chang-Sun. The shockwave created by the explosion was so powerful that it caused the unholy icons to crack, destroying all the curse-inflicting red eyes at once.
『Ri-Ridiculous…!』
The cloud of mist gathered at one point, forming the outline of a human head. The spirit left by the tomb owner, Bestla, screamed; Chang-Sun was supposed to be the ‘vessel’ they had long been waiting for…!
All the other people who had disrespectfully intruded on the tomb had failed to satisfy Bestla, leaving them immensely displeased. They approved of the person who had opened the gate… but they had been violently pushed back even before they could break through Chang-Sun’s mental barriers.
“Do I have to thank ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’?” Chang-Sun remarked with a grin.
[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ gently smiles.]
[The Skill ‘Unbending Spirit’ has been activated, protecting your mind from outside intrusions.]
[The Skill ‘Composed Spirit’ has been activated, strengthening your mental barriers.]
Lightly fixing his hair with one hand, Chang-Sun smiled coldly at Bestla’s spirit.
The [Unbending Spirit] and [Composed Spirit] skills that Minerva had given him as bonus rewards were more useful than Chang-Sun initially thought. Bestla’s spirit was quite powerful for such a Dungeon’s owner, and Chang-Sun could have ended up in trouble if he let his guard down.
However, Bestla’s spirit seemed to have a different opinion from Chang-Sun.
『Don’t be ridiculous! We…! We weren’t forced back because of skills granted by a mere ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’...!』
“You talk too much,” Chang-Sun retorted as he gripped [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] tightly, thinking Bestla’s spirit would just keep blathering unnecessarily if he didn’t silence her.
[The Skill ‘Viper Eyes’ reveals the enemy’s weakness!]
Pah―!
Chang-Sun quickly rushed forward to the gold coffin atop the altar. To be exact, he was aiming for the blue jewel on the tip of the coffin. [Viper Eyes] had marked the jewel red, which meant it was Bestla’s spirit’s core.
[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ watches you with a piercing gaze.]
『N-No!』
Bestla’s spirit swiftly leaped at Chang-Sun, but they had few abilities other than mental debuffs, due to lacking a body. Eventually, Chang-Sun broke through the defense put up by Bestla’s spirit and smashed the jewel with [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth].
Crack!
Kieeehh―!
『N-No! Noooooooo!』
Bestla’s spirit began to writhe in midair. They tried to resist, but a vortex appeared amid the horrific wailing of ghosts, quickly swallowing their spirit.
Craaaccck―!
At the same time, cracks spread all across the gold coffin, and it quickly crumbled into pieces. Chang-Sun had expected to see a corpse or a mummy, but there was nothing there, only a small wooden box lying amid the cloud of orange dust dispersing through the air.
‘This is the treasure box the Highoff Clan tried to get. What’s in this box, that’s so important the Clan even risked offering human sacrifices?’ Chang-Sun thought as he opened the wooden box without hesitation. However…
‘A key…?’ Chang-Sun thought, squinting at the object inside—a key that seemed to be made from the same golden material as the coffin..
The key had a straight shaft with three prongs on one end, and a large red jewel on the other.
[Peter’s Key]
A key that can be used to open something.
Its use is indiscernible at present.
· Type: Miscellaneous.
· Effect: Unknown.
‘Peter’s Key? Not Bestla’s?’ Chang-Sun thought, tilting his head in confusion because the key’s owner was different from the tomb’s owner. Perhaps the tomb’s owner had acquired it in life, and it had been buried with her.
‘It looks as if I need to fulfill a special condition to figure out its use,’ Chang-Sun thought, pulling out [Peter’s Key] and examining it closely.
He had seen many sacred objects and relics, but he was unsure how to use the key. On top of that, he had never even heard of any such sacred object as [Peter’s Key], leaving him baffled.
‘It doesn’t seem like an ordinary miscellaneous item,’ Chang-Sun thought.
Although he was unable to discover its true power, he was sure it was no ordinary key, judging from the craftsmanship that had gone into making it and the quality of the materials used. In the end, he threw [Peter’s Key] in his inventory, planning to torture Highoff Clan members to discover its use.
Just then…
[The Dungeon Quest has been completed.]
[Compiling the final ranking.]
[Dungeon Ranking]
First Place: Lee Chang-Sun (175,550 Points)
...
[Different rewards will be given out based on performance.]
[Different rewards will be given out based on ranking.]
...
While Chang-Sun was reading the messages that appeared before his eyes…
[New Players have entered the Dungeon!]
‘Backup has arrived,’ Chang-Sun thought. He knew that the ‘new Players’ were the Highoff Clan’s reinforcements. They had no doubt hurried to send backup after finding out that their forces inside the Dungeon were unreachable. Chang-Sun was sure that they must have been taken aback when they saw the disaster outside.
‘They’re too late, though,’ Chang-Sun thought with a smirk.
[The Dungeon is closing.]
[5…]
[4…]
A Dungeon and its Gate would close after the completion of a Dungeon Quest, having served their purpose. That phenomenon was known as Closure.
Rummblee―!
When he saw the crumbling ceiling, Chang-Sun thought of the annoyance the Highoff Clan would no doubt feel. If a Dungeon underwent Closure, any evidence left within it would disappear. Chang-Sun assumed that the Highoff Clan’s reinforcements would be freaking out due to the messages they no doubt received right after entering the Dungeon.
[1…]
[0.]
[The Dungeon is now completely closed.]
[Great work, everyone.]
Paaah!
A ray of black light swallowed the Dungeon.
* * *
It took a long time for Chang-Sun to return to the Choi-Lee Forge. While waiting for him, Choi Bu-Yong had been nervously back and forth within the forge. He had just sat down in his chair for a moment when his dog, Wilson, heard a stranger’s footsteps and began barking; however, Bu-Yong could tell the ‘stranger’ was actually Chang-Sun.
“Hey, you…!” Bu-Yong called out with a frown, even though he was secretly relieved. However, he was interrupted mid-sentence.
“Catch,” Chang-Sun said as he threw something in Bu-Yong’s direction.
Bu-Yong hurriedly reached out and barely managed to catch it. Despite the difficulty, however, he moved so quickly it was as if he could see normally. He realized that the object Chang-Sun had thrown at him was made of metal, and was about to yell ‘What the hell is wrong with you’, but he soon realized what he was holding and began to tremble.
Everything about the metal object was familiar—its texture, its material, and so on.
“This is…!” Bu-Yong exclaimed, standing up from his chair.
“You can start making stuff now that I’ve brought you the hammer, right?” Chang-Sun asked with a grin.
Bu-Yong opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish, his mind full of questions. How on earth had Chang-Sun obtained the hammer? How had Chang-Sun defeated the Highoff Clan’s Players when the Dungeon was under the Clan’s direct management? What had happened to his senior brother?
However, Bu-Yong swallowed all those questions back down. He nodded, seemingly steadying his resolve before saying, “Okay, but just as I told you, a one-month deadline isn’t enough. I haven’t used a hammer for a long time, so I have to get the hang of it and readjust my furnace.”
Chang-Sun felt as if Bu-Yong’s way of speaking had somehow changed a lot. The current Bu-Yong would be aptly described by words such as ‘vigorous’ and ‘energetic’. He no longer seemed like a walking corpse; it was as if he had risen from the dead. If he had not lost his eyes, they would surely be sparkling like the stars in the sky.
As he watched Bu-Yong, Chang-Sun smiled faintly before saying, “The weapons I need right now are a whip, a long spear, and a shield. I’m not in a hurry to get the rest of them, so you can give me those weapons whenever you finish making them.”
“Give me the order of priority,” Bu-Yong said as he sat back down.
“As I said, I need a whip first. You can decide the rest on your own,” Chang-Sun replied with a shrug.
“The shield will take at least half a year due to the materials needed. I’ll make the whip first and the long spear after,” Bu-Yong said, crossing his arms.
“Will it be difficult to get materials for the shield?” Chang-Sun asked, leaning against the table.
“Yes, but I have some connections, so it should take only fifteen days,” Bu-Yong replied with a nod.
“A week,” Chang-Sun said concisely.
“What? Making a whip alone will take more than two weeks…!” Bu-Yong protested, ‘looking’ at Chang-Sun.
“From getting the hang of using your hammer again to making the whip and the long spear… Finish everything in one month. Since I’m giving you a short deadline, I’ll pay you triple,” Chang-Sun said, looking back at Bu-Yong.
“…Fuck,” Bu-Yong cursed. He frowned again as Chang-Sun continued to throw money in his face. The fact that he lived in the world of capitalism saddened him.
“I’ll take that as a yes, so I’ll return in a month. Oh yeah… This is also for sale, right? I’ll take it,” Chang-Sun said, before standing up and bidding Bu-Yong goodbye.
Bu-Yong quickly snapped back to reality the moment he sensed Chang-Sun taking the fire poker that had been left lying beside the Divine Fire Furnace. Chang-Sun could take everything else, but Bu-Yong could not let him take the fire poker. It was a very old bronze sword, but his father had called it the family heirloom. Bu-Yong could not give the sword away; he stood up, shouting, “Hey, that’s…!”
「Lee Chang-Sun has deposited 100,000,000 won into your W Bank account.」
Bu-Yong’s smartphone read him a message.
“That’s for the sword, and we can call it even with the hammer. Shouldn’t that be enough? You were just using it as a fire poker in the first place, so it doesn’t matter, right?” Chang-Sun replied as he left the forge.
Bu-Yong stood silently for a long time, unable to comprehend just how much money Chang-Sun had thrown away in his forge.
“…Fuck.”