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Chapter 26: Temporary Return (2)
I went to the top level of the association to gather information about the planet Kevrian, but instead, I was bombarded with questions.
“Soul Mediator, how on earth did you survive for ten days in that hell?”
“The Trein Fortress... I still vividly remember the massacre of my comrades by orcs when spirit power was sealed. No matter how many we killed, more enemies kept coming. When the Uruk units climbed the walls, the battle was as good as lost...”
Dwarves, elves, and everyone else swarmed around, bombarding me with questions.
Their memories were so fragmented that the elf and dwarf next to each other started arguing over which gate fell first.
“You long-eared guys! The east gate, which you were supposed to guard, fell first, and we got attacked from the rear! What good are spirits when you can't even defend a gate?”
“You stumpy fools! You were too short to do anything but slash at the Uruks’ ankles, and you all got stomped to death! The west gate fell first!”
“Excuse me. From what I saw, the elves and dwarves were working together to guard all the gates.”
“Ah... is that so?”
“And the first gate to fall was probably the south gate. I was summoned there.”
“I see...”
Ah, these hopeless fools.
Even if I asked questions, someone nearby would always interrupt with, “Oh, that’s not right,” making my head spin in confusion.
Clap clap!
“Oh, for goodness' sake! Everyone, stop crowding here and get back to work! You're just confusing the Soul Mediator even more!”
Alena, watching this ridiculous scene, clapped her hands and sent them scattering.
“I'm sorry. They just can’t believe someone survived on Kevrian.”
“It wasn’t that hard, honestly.”
“Is it because you're a Soul Mediator? Normally, holding a collapsing fortress on three fronts would be impossible, even for a C-rank hunter.”
Alena stared at me in fascination, her eyes sparkling as if she was ready to bombard me with questions herself.
I decided to strike first.
“But why are monsters fighting the neutral faction? Isn’t it unusual? Do they usually fight each other?”
“So you know about the neutral faction too... Well, D-rank hunters do learn about it gradually as they visit the Broken Worlds.”
The relationship between Order and the Neutral Faction was ambiguous.
On planets where the Chaos Zone was strong, the two factions maintained an alliance.
However, in worlds like Kevrian, where Chaos was almost non-existent, they fought for dominance over the planet.
Still, these conflicts rarely escalated to the point of mutual destruction.
They typically ended with determining who would take the lead.
Acts like destroying the World Tree, as on Kevrian, were rare.
“It’s believed that the Black Dragon Akardian acted independently, falling into the clutches of Chaos. Other dragons didn’t expect him to escalate things this far. They were misled by Akardian’s words and joined him in keeping the angels in check.”
“A single dragon caused all that?”
“Dragons are that powerful. They usually just lack the will to act. But when a determined dragon decides to make a move, well... Akardian showed us what happens.”
Are they really that strong?
I suddenly felt a tinge of regret about the dragons.
No.
If I disappear, they’re useless anyway.
“So if we just secure the Trein Fortress and open the four sanctuaries, will that solve the problem? No Chaos Gates will open?”
“Well... if that were the case, the difficulty wouldn’t be impossible. Eventually, you’ll clash with the Chaos Zone as well.”
Even if I hold the fortress, I’d still have to fight Chaos too?
It’s just a matter of whether there’s any helpful ally or not, huh?
I recalled the fortress defenders being wiped out by the orc vanguard.
Ha.
This feels hopeless.
What about other planets?
Are they more manageable?
“What about places like Eshtar?”
“We don’t know much about that world, but it’s much more manageable than Kevrian. Eshtar is a peaceful planet where dungeons naturally form, so it’s somewhat similar to Earth. Kevrian, on the other hand, is embroiled in a deadly war between two factions. On other worlds, Order and Neutral aren’t as hostile as on Kevrian. They even join forces against Chaos at times.”
“Is there anyone else challenging Kevrian?”
“Promising hunters from the U.S. and Russia tried but couldn’t last more than a few hours. Some were tormented by orcs and ended up dying three times, becoming shells of their former selves. You don’t seem to find it too hard, though.”
Maybe it’s because I was killed by a catapult rock.
‘I’m so scared of dying again. Tremble, tremble. I’ll never fight again. Boo-hoo.’ I never felt anything like that.
Instead, all I felt was, ‘How dare they kill me so humiliatingly? I’ll wipe them all out!’ fueled by burning vengeance.
“That’s why no one wants to go to Kevrian. Even if you don’t end up a wreck, dying three times means your level drops by three. And the experience needed to regain those three levels increases tenfold. Promising hunters regretfully choose the wrong planet and fall far behind.”
“Really? But I already gained eight levels, going from 26 to 34.”
“W-What? 34?!”
To be precise, 34.2.
Killing a dragon got me to 34.2.
“Thirty-four levels?!”
“How is that even possible?!”
“Get back to work, everyone!”
Ah, I told them to work, but now they’re swarming again.
Luckily, Alena told them off, and they grumbled but went back to work.
“Thirty-four levels... that’s amazing! That means you can die twice more! I’ll find a painless suicide spell for you.”
“What? Are you telling me to die?”
“Otherwise, are you staying on Kevrian?”
Her words made me ponder.
I thought of the elves on Kevrian who revered me as the Apostle of the Goddess of War, but they were remnants of a doomed world anyway.
Ultimately, as someone from Earth, Earth’s safety was paramount.
And with the strategy guide focusing on the Neutral Faction, clearing Kevrian didn’t seem very feasible.
Would staying there be the right choice?
Maybe it’d be better for someone as strong as me to go to Eshtar and help clear it quickly.
I’ll ask Kang Shia about Eshtar when I meet her today.
Oh, speaking of which—
“I’ll think more about Kevrian later... but I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“How do I make money now?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, when I was an E-rank, I made money by clearing Earth dungeons and selling mana stones. But D-rank is all about the Broken Worlds, right?”
“Ah...”
“So, no money until you clear the planet boss?”
“Don’t you have mana stones or dungeon core shards? Oh, wait, Kevrian doesn’t have dungeons, does it?”
What?
“Eshtar has dungeons, so it’s like Earth. Clearing dungeons there yields mana stones, and dungeon cores can be sold for money.”
“What? Kevrian doesn’t have that... no mana stones either...”
“Well, Kevrian is a battlefield, not a dungeon. Why would mana stones appear? Oh, but if you bring back spirit stones, we can appraise them and buy them at a high price. If the fortress becomes a spirit fortress, spirit stones might appear.”
A spirit fortress?
How long do I have to wait for that?
“Wow, you’re really making me do unpaid work like this? And I’m a D-rank?”
“We can’t buy anything on our side, but the association might think differently…”
Alena made a phone call while I waited for a moment.
The dwarves looked at me with pity in their eyes.
“It’s already such a difficult planet, and now you can’t even earn money…”
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“A D-rank mana stone from Eshtar costs a billion won each.”
“And dungeon cores are worth way more than that.”
“Wasn’t that the thing used in the Elixir of Youth? Earthlings are so obsessed with youth.”
Wow!
This is ridiculous.
A D-rank mana stone is worth a billion won, and dungeon cores are even more expensive?
Ugh, should I just go to Kevrian and end it all?
I’m just trying to make a living here.
I have 5 billion won in debt.
Five billion!
“They told me that from level 25 to 30, you’d get a bounty of 200 million won per level. From 30 to 35, it’s 500 million won per level. They said they allocated a special budget after learning that other D-rank hunters in Eshtar are living comfortably while you, Jiho Kim, haven’t earned a single penny.”
“Oh! That’s a lot of money?”
Thank you, association president!
That means I’ll get 3 billion won?
Wow…
Reality suddenly feels surreal.
“Do you know how hard it is to level up from 25? Even Yoo Jintae, the highest-level hunter in South Korea, who awakened a year before you, is only level 44. You need to reach level 50 to become C-rank.”
“So slow,” Alena muttered.
Why is it so slow?
Hmm… Well, I did fight in large-scale battles instead of just picking off monsters.
The experience from large-scale massacres must be different from hunting small fry.
“They said they’d transfer the money immediately after confirming your level through your status window. What will you do?”
“Wait, that huge amount, right now?”
“Is 3 billion considered a huge amount? For someone of your capabilities, Jiho Kim, it seems like far too little.”
Hahaha.
I guess elves don’t have much of a concept of money.
Well, they are people who will be leaving soon, so it makes sense.
“She’s right, you know.”
“Excuse me?”
“If the U.S. hears about you, they’d probably offer 10 million dollars just to get you to naturalize. Isn’t this offer too low?”
I was taken to a high-end restaurant in Cheongdam-dong after receiving a call from Kang Shia.
It was a course meal restaurant that only served one group per floor.
So, I dressed up, leaving the little one at home.
“Ten million dollars? That’s a hundred billion won, isn’t it?”
Kang Shia, in a striking red dress and elegant makeup that made her beauty even more dazzling, confidently cut her steak with practiced hands and brought it to her mouth.
Even Pollux, who had been quiet for a while, kept pestering me through the system, telling me to go for it and finally use my "abilities."
I turned it off because it was getting annoying.
Still, the view was delightful.
“A hunter under the gods’ attention. A rare, unique-class hunter. Someone certain to become the world’s best hunter. A hundred billion won is cheap for someone like that.”
She ate gracefully, explaining with poise.
“To restore one of the broken worlds, you’d need to fight B- or C-rank monsters. If the U.S. confirms that your information is accurate, they’ll definitely approach you with naturalization offers. That’s how much they value national security.”
“Really? I can’t really feel it.”
I sipped the wine in front of me as I replied.
“If you had chosen Eshtar as your world, you’d probably already be overwhelmed with offers. People from all kinds of nations operate there.”
“Ah, the planet Eshtar. What’s it like there?”
“It’s like a peaceful fantasy world. It has a medieval feel, but magic is advanced enough to make life convenient. The cities are well-developed too.”
She explained that the magic city Erundal on Eshtar was where D-rank hunters started.
There, they were known as warriors of the gods and received help from temples.
The basic protocol on Eshtar was to establish a base in the temple and clear dungeons that appeared outside the city.
“However, while the difficulty is said to be manageable, the number of suitable dungeons is limited compared to the population. Some are way too hard, while others are too easy. Because of this, competition for dungeons marked by certain colors is fierce. People often form guilds and move in groups.”
“I see.”
“And another feature is that the world resets every 36 days in our time.”
“What? 36 days? That’s a year in that world?”
“Yes. When that time comes, the Chaos Lord casts a grand spell that kills everyone. You need to be at least C-rank to survive the instant-death magic. When the world ends, time rewinds, and it all starts over.”
A world that resets every 36 days.
It doesn’t seem all that easy…
In the end, you’d need to be at least C-rank to clear it.
“It doesn’t sound very easy.”
“What about Kevrian?”
I briefly shared my experiences in Kevrian, and she looked intrigued.
“Starting off with siege battles against armies… It’s tough, but I guess it helps you level up quickly.”
“That’s true. I’m already level 34.”
“What?! Level 34?!”
I showed her a photo of my status window that I had taken earlier for the association.
I covered the abilities with my finger and only revealed the level.
She stared at it, speechless, before suddenly grabbing her phone.
“Driver, bring me the pen and the items I requested earlier.”
What now?
Soon, there was a knock, and the driver entered with a white envelope and pen, handing them to Kang Shia before leaving again.
She pulled out some papers from the envelope and began drawing bold lines through certain sections.
“I was boasting about the U.S. offering 10 million dollars, but I must’ve seriously underestimated you, Kim Jiho.”
“This is…?”
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