Chapter 71 – The Land Where None Have Stepped On

-yawn~

-CRASH!

-CRACK!

“KWAAAKK!”

The continued clears of the level 28 dungeon made me yawn.

The anxiety I had before was nowhere to be found.

It was a sad story for the lizardmen that were being annihilated without a trace before me, but it was at the point where it was annoying me.

They were being evaporated instantly by the constant barrage of level 200 Meteors.

With just Mana Shield, I didn’t even need to think about defending.

It was as if I went back to the past to solve math problems at elementary school.

I was obtaining sufficient amounts of experience, but I wasn’t satisfied with just this.

Humans are a type of animal that constantly seeks new and thrilling experiences.

And soon, I’d have to return to school.

My time for hunting would decrease.

That was why I felt greed for something beyond the level 28 dungeon.

Despite the time required to hunt decreasing, I was searching for something that would let me grow even faster.

After I finished hunting, I was planning to head to the succubi dungeon where Jong Ho and Ho Jin were waiting.

There was something I wanted to ask the two of them.

Recently, I had visited the level 30 dungeon.

I already knew that physical attacks do not affect monsters in the level 28 to level 30 dungeons.

Mankind had made it to the level 30 dungeon where magical attacks still worked.

Perhaps my hopes were too high, but it was a huge letdown.

The number of monsters, drops, and even experience were all less than the level 28 dungeon despite the monsters being bigger and stronger.

I learned the reason why magician rankers preferred the level 28 dungeon.

Thus I planned to go to dungeons level 31 and beyond.

If possible, a dungeon level 34 and above where magic attacks worked!

Humankind had set up dungeons up to level 32, so there was a lot of information regarding the monsters and drops for them.

However, there was no information regarding all the dungeons beyond that, no, even on the portals beyond that.

I was taking the first step into uncharted territory that no one has been to before.

****

I poured the blood stones that filled my backpack into the counter machine.

In just a single day, I had gathered this much.

To avoid suspicion, I went through many different stores.

By the time I returned to the first store I visited, I could tell that a month had passed.

While selling Awakened essences, something of interest occurred.

“Guess it’s bothersome to visit every day?”

“Yes. It’s a lot more convenient to sell a month’s worth in one go.”

“A lot of people do that. Here. The statement of accounts.”

“Thank you. By the way, do you sell anything similar to a marble?”

“A marble….”

I was trying to obtain information regarding the transparent marble.

Even Ho Jin, who had been in the association for a long time, could not obtain information regarding it.

With the help of his ex-subordinate, he said that he was continuing to look through the files.

After a long period of thinking, the store owner opened his mouth.

“Are you talking about the stat resetting marble?”

“Oh? Can you show it to me?”

“Whew. Despite running this shop here for 22 years, I have never seen it myself. It does exist, but it’s so rare that it might as well not exist.”

‘Is it like a girlfriend or something?’

Immediately I searched for stat resetting marble on my smartphone.

However, I was disappointed by the few images that appeared.

From the search result, all it showed was a marble with a deep shade of purple.

“Ah… is there anything else than this?”

“Yes. From what I know, there isn’t anything else like it.”

“I understand. Farewell then.”

“Yes. Come back soon.”

While I was heading to the succubi dungeon, I was fumbling with the marble in my pocket.

I had even thought about just consuming it.

However, it could be something that Joker planned to use to suicide so he could avoid interrogation by torture.

My bet was that it was for some kind of recovery buff, but until I had reliable information, I couldn’t just put it in my mouth.

On top of that, it could be something that you don’t eat.

“Today’s a dead end too.”

While taking in the fresh night air, I arrived at the dungeon.

Despite how late it was, many warrior class Awakened were gathered.

Of course, a few of the royalty tanker and healer classes were there too.

Far away, I could spot Jong Ho and Ho Jin walking together towards me.

“What’s up!”

“Yo! Hyung! Hello mister.”

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes. Shall we go to a deserted location first?”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

“Hey, do you not even wear armor while you hunt now?”

Looking around my surroundings, I answered with a whisper.

“I don’t even need to in the level 28 dungeon. Does hyung or mister want to wear it instead?”

“Aigo, no way. You’ll be going to places beyond that soon.”

“I’ll pass as well.”

I found myself thinking that these two are similar to the point of being scary.

It was almost like a union of the sweet potatoes.

One good thing out of this was that it seemed neither of them would get tired of each other’s personalities.

We headed for what has now become our base of operations, the midget’s office.

****

“Dark Lady……”

The radical faction’s overboss, Zekill.

He spoke as he pressed firmly on his temples.

In front of him stood Dark Lady, who had taken the first place in the radical faction in the struggle for dominance with the success of the portal explosion experiment.

At Zekill’s call was the immediately reply of Dark Lady.

“Yes!”

“Have you not found Joker’s whereabouts yet?”

“Yes. He left on a personal errand and has not established contact as of yet. It’s been that way for a while.”

“What’s the chance that Joker has been done in by someone?”

“Highly unlikely. For someone like Joker who has that much power, it would take a majority of the association’s ranker hunters to take him down. Without that much manpower being deployed, it would be too difficult to fight against him. But from what I learned, the association has not made any moves.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes. The association’s president himself has reported to me.”

“I see.”

“There is one thing I am suspicious of…..”

“What is it?”

“I’ve been using Necklace of Searching that I own every three hours in an attempt to locate Joker.”

“…..”

“However, Joker was not found. Even until now, after I’ve used up all the Necklace of Searching, not once was he found.”

Necklace of Searching.

It was a single use equipment that when worn, it would locate the Awakened that the user thought of on a map.

With a ridiculously low drop rate and a onetime use restriction on it, it was an item with an enormous value.

There was a skill in the executioner class that gave off the same effect, but the class was incredibly rare and the mana expenditure was incredibly high, so it was rarely used.

As if annoyed by her talks that danced around the main point, Zekill raised his voice and asked.

“So what are you trying to say!”

“As I have told you, the chance that Joker was done in by someone is zero. The only possibility left would be…”

“Are you saying that he went in there?”

“Yes. That’s correct. Looking at the current situation so far, there is no other explanation.”

A dungeon and portal that’s completely in another world.

If he was in another world, it was impossible for any skill or item to pinpoint his location.

Restraining his boiling temper, Zekill quietly muttered to himself.

“What were you thinking, Joker…..”

“…..”

“Did he tell you that he was heading there?”

“No. I’ve heard no such thing.”

“Damn… I’ll order Ghost to supply you with more Necklaces of Searching. Continue so that you can locate his position.”

“Yes, Lord Zekill!”

“Despite the additional task, do not stray away from the current project at hand.”

“Of course.”

“Dark Lady… Soon, the world will change. To the new world that’s approaching, I will not forget your accomplishments towards it.”

Finishing the conversation, Zekill headed for the Warp that was formed in the corner of Dark Lady’s home office.

Until Zekill’s form completely disappeared, Dark Lady did not raise her head and continued to pay her respects.

‘Joker… You fool. Was all you could think to do was to go in there?’

****

At last, we arrived at the midget’s office.

It seemed that there was not a better place to talk in secret than here.

Three men were laid back in a relaxed manner on the sofa.

After taking a rare break, I spoke first.

“A level 34 would be difficult, right?”

“Yikes! Why are you saying that suddenly?”

“Well, I’m trying to find a location that would help me grow stronger faster than the level 28 dungeon.”

“But why are you trying to suddenly skip all the way to a level 34 dungeon?”

“I own way more magic skills than physical attack skills. Also the area of effect is far larger, and the damage is superior.”

“Even so, there are only dungeons up to level 32. Isn’t that true, mister?”

“Ah… That’s right. Humankind has only set up dungeons up to level 32 portals.”

“I already know that. But there has to be portals even if there are no dungeons. Doesn’t it work out if I clear those portals and turn them into dungeons?”

“Whew. You’re a scary one. You’re right, but it’s probably going to be very difficult to find such a portal. There’s no way that portals that hid for 34 years are common.”

“Hm… Unless it’s in the abyss of the sea or deep in the mountains, it would be difficult to find, right?”

“With all that you’ve done, now you want to dive and hike to hunt?”

“Guess I have to go all the way to Yangpyeong to search….”

It was then. I saw a crafty look in Ho Jin’s eyes.

It was definitely a look that said that he knew something.

I faced towards Ho Jin and gave him the expression of a child looking at cotton candy.

“Mister! You do know something, right?”

“Aigo, guess I wasn’t able to hide my facial expression.”

“Do you know? Where a level 34 portal would be?”

“Hoho. Just as you’ve guessed, I do know the location of a level 34 portal. I’ve seen it reported in a classified document that can be only accessed by department heads and above.”

“Oho. Where would that be?”

“The place you mentioned before, in Yangpyeong.”

“As expected. That’s why the citizens were evacuated and the association building was put out of commission?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Hyung, do you have a lot of fuel in the car?”

“Hey! I’m aging because of you. Alright, let’s get going.”

“I’ll go home real quick to equip my gear and come back.”

****

“Is this the place?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

We’ve arrived at Yangpyeong. In front of us was an abandoned mine shaft.

The entrance of the mine was completely blocked off by someone’s previous efforts.

Without any hesitation, I pried open the entrance.

-CREEEAK!

It was an incredibly thick sheet of sturdy metal, but for me, it was as difficult as folding paper.

Since I needed to repair it later as to not leave any traces, I pried it just enough to get through.

Jong Ho’s car was covered with a black sheet as to hide it, and we continued forward.

“Let’s go!”

“Yep. Come back soon.”

“Hoho……”

“Huh? Please accompany me at least to the interior of the mine. It’s dark and scary.”

“Ah. Alright. We can do that.”

“Mister, hyung, let’s go.”

“Yes. Let’s do so.”

The moment Ho Jin and Jong Ho entered the mine shaft…

-CREEEAK!

“Hey! Why are you closing that!”

“Kuku. Since we all came here already, the three of us should go together.”

“This is crazy. Really.”

It didn’t take long after entering the abandoned mine shaft to find the portal.

An oval shaped purple portal. There were exactly 34 growth rings. Thus, it was definitely a level 34 portal.

Lastly, I opened up my status window to check on my equipment.

“I’ll go in first. Since we don’t have any information, it could be dangerous.”

“Isn’t it dangerous for you too?”

“I’ll probably be fine?”

“Well, I admit you probably would be. Be careful though.”

“Yes.”

-whoosh

“Oho…. Looks like it’ll be a good time?”