Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Dimensional Magic Tower (3)

TL: Haku

Editor: Hungry Panda

“Ah, Herz hyung[1]! Why haven’t we seen Ian hyung for a couple days now?”

Carwin, who was busily hunting today as well in order to raise the Public Safety of the base, seemed to have suddenly remembered Ian, as he grumbled .

“He’s been busy lately doing the quests that he put off . He said he’ll come back as soon as he finishes those . Just wait a little . ”

While trying to reach lv 93, Ian only hunted around the base like crazy .

As the Public Safety of the base, which was so hard to raise, went up by 1 with a day’s worth of hunting from Ian, it only made sense that his absence left a big hole .

“Ah, since this hyung is not here, our speed has significantly decreased . ”

It wasn’t that lv 93 Ian’s hunting speed was overwhelmingly faster than his guildmates, who were over lv 100, yet .

However, as his playing time was overwhelmingly long, he had hunted without rest like a machine, so he had been doing the work of 3-5 people .

“Still, if we just raise around 15 more points for Public Safety, we meet the next set of requirements, so let’s work hard a little more . ”

The reason why the guildmates were focused on the Public Safety of the base was because it was the value that was most directly connected to the territorial expansion .

Once a base was first gained, it was possible to take any surrounding land without an owner as territory at a certain cost in Kailran’s guild base system . Depending on the size of the extra territory gained this way, it’s graded a level, and it was a system where every time the territory was expanded to the next level’s stage, the Public Safety limit would rise by 50 .

The Public Safety of the Lotus guild’s base was currently at 185 .

Since gaining their very first base, they were intending to get the territory to the 3rd expansion .

When thinking of the Public Safety when they first promoted the base to a Village, which was 12, they had made rapid progress .

“Alright . Well, still, once we reach 250 Public Safety, we won’t have to waste energy on here for a while…”

Once they reached the 5th expansion of the base after they made their Public Safety up to 250, it was impossible to increase their territory any more until the base’s rank increased to ‘Domain’ .

Carwin was talking about that .

“That’s right . Speaking of which, I wonder if Kroban hyung is raising his Fame well . Even if we work hard and meet the promotional requirements, if that hyung’s title-gaining gets pushed back, then that’s a real bummer…”

At Herz’s words, Carwin agreed .

“Right . That hyung technically should have reached 400 thousand Fame and started the Empire Quests by now, so I’m curious as to whether he’s doing alright . ”

The two people that momentarily bleated and rested, stood up again shortly after and prepared to fight .

There were already over five guilds that had promoted their bases to Domain-rank .

Based on the information that came from them, it was safe to say that it was the true start of the guild base once it reached Domain-rank, and a lot of new guild content opened up .

There was no time to relax in order to promote the base even one day faster .

@

“Whew… That was a close call . ”

Ian, who had barely gathered all of the relic pieces within the time limit, let out a sigh of relief after returning to the Magic Tower through the dimensional portal .

He had completed the quest with just 15 minutes remaining .

‘If I hadn’t gained the information from the community, it was a quest I probably wouldn’t have been able to complete . ’

When Ian first began hunting in the dungeon of the ruins, he thought that the monsters that appeared were quite weak in comparison to the A-rank difficulty level .

He thought that it was an easy quest in comparison to the difficulty level .

However, compared to right now, where he had completely finished the quest, those thoughts completely disappeared .

‘As expected, there was a reason why the difficulty level was high . Although, I wasn’t very fortunate, either…’

Either way, Ian, who had narrowly succeeded in gathering all of the relic pieces, went to Gripper holding the pieces .

“Gripper, here, I have gathered all of them . ”

“Ooh, good, good . As expected, you didn’t let me down . I was a little worried as it was getting close to the time limit…”

And as Gripper received the pieces, the message that notified Ian that he had completed the quest popped up .

You have completed the ‘Ancient Relic’ quest . Clear Rank: C You have obtained 8,757,500 EXP .

Ian, who had never received a C-rank before, grumbled internally as he looked at the substandard quest rank .

‘Ha… This rotten, unlucky quest . ’

If he was only lucky, then it was a quest he could have finished not just a couple hours earlier, but yesterday .

If that was the case, he would have at least received a B-rank, or an A-rank .

Ian held a grudge in vain .

Meanwhile, Gripper, who received the relic pieces from Ian, just told Ian to wait for a second before he slipped into his laboratory .

“Hoo, I should sit down for a bit and rest . ”

Ian, who agonizingly progressed through the quest because of the insufficient time, seemed to have been tired, as he plopped down on his chair and began to doze off .

Just as Ian was about to be forcibly logged out from falling asleep, Gripper, who had carried the relic inside his lab with him, luckily came out and woke Ian up .

“Thanks to you, the magical equipment is finally completed . Thank you . ”

“It was nothing . It’s a relief to hear that the research finished successfully . ”

And with an expression full of anticipation, Ian asked Gripper .

“Since the magical equipment is finished now, does that mean we can revive the God Dragon’s Soul Stone that I brought?”

Inwardly, he was thinking that ‘there’s no way that it would be completed this easily’, but he asked just in case .

However, as expected, there was no way that was it .

“No, because we don’t know if the machine is properly running yet, that’s dangerous . Wouldn’t it be a big problem if the machine malfunctions and the God Dragon’s Soul Stone was lost?” Ian nodded his head .

‘That’s right . If the God Dragon’s Soul Stone were to disappear, I may not be able to sleep for a while because of the disappointment . ’

From what he heard from Oakley, the God Dragon was a Familiar that’s fighting power was truly unbelievable .

‘It might be a Legendary-rank . ’

While Ian was thinking of the God Dragon that he would be able to summon soon and letting his imagination run wild, the next connected quest left Gripper’s mouth .

“So, wouldn’t you say that it needs to be tested with a different Soul Stone of an ancient monster first? Then, if it’s confirmed that it operates properly, then I’m thinking of using the God Dragon’s Soul Stone that you brought . ”

The quest notification rang out .

Ring- .

Restoration of an Ancient Monster

Dimensional Magician Gripper said that he needed to test his magical equipment with a different monster first in order to wake up the God Dragon’s Soul Stone .

If the Soul Stone pieces of the ancient monster that Gripper wants is collected, he’ll revive the ancient monster using his magical equipment .

You must enter the dimensional portal that Gripper creates, and gather the Soul Stone pieces of the ancient monster he wants .

The pieces are made up of a total variety of ten, and you must gather one of each kind of piece and bring it back .

Quest Difficulty Level: A

Quest Condition: Unable to party for the duration of the quest .

Time Limit: None

Reward – An ancient Familiar equal to the Clear Rank can be gained .

The quest cannot be rejected .

And Ian, who slowly read down the quest content, couldn’t help but internally scream .

‘Aaaack! For this one to also be piece-gathering . ’

He felt faint while remembering the horror of the 4th piece .

‘Still, it’s a relief that there’s no time limit this time . ’

After sleeping and waking up, before he knew it, it was Sunday now .

It was the day that ne needed to visit the village momentarily to meet with Professor Lee Jinook .

If he used a Return Stone, it would be an instant trip back and forth, but as he didn’t know if there would be some sort of variable, he would have felt uncomfortable if there was a time limit .

On the other hand, there was an interesting part as well .

‘I’m anticipating the part that says I can obtain an ancient Familiar a little . ’

As he went over lv 90, his Leadership value had gone up during that time .

He could afford to increase his Familiars by one or two more now .

Ian, who roughly finished organizing, responded to Gripper .

“Yes, I will find them and bring them back . ”

Gripper smiled brightly as he nodded his head .

“Thank you, Ian . I’ll put my trust only in you . ”

@

Sunday evening .

Ian, who arrived at Robos Town at the promised time after lightly finishing his lunch, looked around in order to find Professor Lee Jinook .

‘Now that I think about it, I didn’t ask the Professor for his ID . ’

Ian, who had hit the fan, wondered if he needed to at least log off and call him .

However, just then, a user with the form of a middle-aged man caught Ian’s eyes .

And after Ian checked his ID, he flinched .

‘His ID is… Lee Jinook?’

At the unknown disharmony, Ian broke out in a cold sweat, and he carefully looked at various sides of the person .

It was due to the fact that he looked much younger than Professor Lee Jinook .

‘By the looks of it, I think it is the professor…’

As he seemed to have played around with the customizing quite a bit, he also looked a bit different, but it was an outer appearance that definitely looked similar to Professor Lee Jinook .

Ian carefully approached him .

“By any chance, are you Professor Lee Jinook?”

And after discovering Ian, he nodded his head and responded .

“That’s right, Student Park Jinsung . You’ve come right on the promised time . ”

“Yes, Professor . You’ve come early . ”

And Lee Jinook looked at Jinsung here and there before wearing a quizzical expression .

“But, why isn’t your ID and level visible?”

And Ian, who heard those words, knew by intuition that his predictions were right .

‘As expected, he wasn’t able to believe my screenshot . ’

“Ah, one second, Professor . ”

After responding, Ian changed his ID and level, which were set to private, as public .

As he did so, Professor Lee Jinook wore a surprised expression .

“Oh-ho, you actually are lv 93 . No, you must have leveled up within then . Lv 94, huh…”

At the reaction of the Professor, who was truly in awe, Ian wore a pleased expression .

“Yes, Professor . I suffered a little during the break . ”

Lee Jinook nodded his head .

“Truly acknowledgeable . ”

Ian followed through and carefully asked .

“Then, now… I’ve won the bet, right?”

Even while Ian spoke, he was inwardly nervous, but surprisingly, Professor Lee Jinook responded coolly .

“Sure . You’ve clearly won the bet . I will acknowledge it . ”

Along with those words, a smile spread across Ian’s face .

‘It feels like a ten-year indigestion finally went down . ’

And Ian, who reached his goal, felt he could go and do the quest without regret now .

“Professor, then it’s alright for me to go now, right?”

However, it seemed as though Lee Jinook still had something to say to Ian .

“No, follow me for a second . It’s not going to take long . There’s something I have to show you . ”

And taking the lead, Lee Jinook headed towards somewhere .

However, because it was a situation where Ian had for sure won the bet, he obediently followed with a relaxed heart .

‘By the looks of it, it seems he’s a Summoner, so is there something he wants to ask me?’

If that was the case, he even had thoughts to respond sincerely . Since Ian was currently in an excellent mood .

However, the place that the two people arrived at shortly after was a place of a kind that Ian was seeing for the first time .

On top of that, it was a place that aroused interest .

‘What the hell? Was there such a place? A monster breeding ground?’

[1] hyung = what a younger male calls a close, older male