Chapter 29: 29

“Hooo—”

As soon as he heard the message, Su-hyeun let out a sigh of relief .

It was now, finally, the end of it all .

As the tension in his body left, all the strength was drained from Su-hyeun’s body . As the effects of Berserk were lost, the temporary boost of health had plummeted to rock bottom .

Su-hyeun looked at the sword he held in his hand .

The sword that looked like gold had now reached its limit . Su-hyeun had to inject magic into it to prevent it from breaking, but it could no longer endure Su-hyeun’s magic .

He made sure the sword would not crumble by injecting his magic . When he had to use Flame, he used magic, and to maintain the sword, he could only use double the amount of magic .

Su-hyeun’s gaze went to the stone that fell out from the summoner’s head, as well as the broken cane .

“The yield isn’t that bad . ”

If he looked around the interior of the dungeon, there might have been more ether stones left . Of course, there would not be any of a similar grade as the one in front of him .

In a hurry, Su-hyeun took three ether stones with him . In fact, those were only collectively named as ether stones, but each of their usages differed by a little .

[Lich’s Life Stone . ]

*An enhanced high-grade ether stone . It has a lifespan of 200 years .

*Limitation: Not a living person’s .

[The highest grade of ether stones . ]

*It contains a large amount of mana . As it had been used for a long time, its glow had faded .

[Dimension Teleportation Stone . ]

*A medium that twists dimensions and space . It can be operated with magic .

These three items .

The explanations were quite simple . The Dimension Teleportation Stone was the main ingredient for the summoner to summon monsters and Lich’s Life Stone was the medium that made Lich able to move about .

A substance that could make humans live more than their expected lifespan .

But, there’s a limitation . Only a non-living human could use this item .

“This kid, he used a cheap item . ”

Usually, Liches would want to have a lifespan of at least 500 years and above and thus made the decision to become a Lich . And the Life Stones that they could obtain were of quality better than this .

Of course, the life stone that Su-hyeun had in his hand now wasn’t considered any less valuable either . Even with this alone, it would become quite a useful item after some enhancements . Above all, there was a considerable benefit from this .

The purple stone was in Su-hyeun’s hands . It was an item that would be too invaluable to be exchanged for money . In fact, amongst the existing ether stones, there was nothing else as substantial as this highest-grade ether stone in the world right now . If this ether stone appeared in the market, it might be too difficult to give an estimated selling price .

Of course…

He would use it solely for himself .

Since he couldn’t bring the items used in the tower, he needed a separate set of weapons here especially because a good weapon or two right now would help in boosting up his power immediately .

After collecting all his yield, Su-hyeun flopped down onto the ground .

He had to take a rest before heading outside .

Act 4

Both Su-hyeun and Lee Ju-ho started to dig around in the dungeon to search and to collect the ether stones .

There were many discussions about how ether stones were mostly found in the dungeons where the boss was found . And in this dungeon, most ether stones were used to maintain the summoner’s stone . Although there were ether stones found on certain parts of the walls in the dungeon, they did not have enough manpower and equipment to harvest all the ether stones .

“Really, I’m alright . ”

Lee Ju-ho refused the ether stones that Su-hyeun had extracted for him . In fact, it was safe to say that Su-hyeun had completed his dungeon attack alone .

“Are you really not going to accept this?”

“Yes . How can I accept this when I’ve done nothing?”

“Well, if you say so…”

Su-hyeun quickly put the ether stones in his arms . Honestly, he didn’t need to have these stones, but it was better to have them, just in case .

Either way, it could be said that he had monopolized and harvested all the ether stones here . Su-hyeun talked with Lee Ju-ho about various things as they walked out of the dungeon .

As they exited the dungeon through the entrance where they first came from, their views turned white, and the scene changed .

In reality, a full day had passed, and it was already the early morning . As they stepped out, Su-hyeun and Lee Ju-ho stood rooted to the ground .

“Uh, the people…”

“Wait, didn’t you say the attack had failed?”

“Are you the awakeners Mr . Lee Ju-ho and Mr . Kim Su-hyeun?”

“That-that’s right! Hey, Ju-ho!”

“Survivors, it’s the survivors!”

Dozens of people gathered around, making a scene .

There was a total of over 10 awakeners besides Ahn Min-seok, Lee Eun-mi, and Kim Ba-reun . On top of that, there were a few reporters equipped with cameras .

Countless people were gathered, making a huge mess .

It seemed that the authorities had called other awakeners for assistance upon hearing that the dungeon attack had failed . It wasn’t surprising to see the reporters being that interested in the awakeners .

Su-hyeun let out a deep breath as if exhausted .

Lee Ju-ho, who spotted it from the corner of his eye, spoke . “Throw the ball to me and quickly get out of here . ”

“Will you be alright?”

“I’ll say that both of us completed the dungeon attack together . If that happens, maybe the distribution…”

“There you go . ”

Su-hyeun took out about half a portion of his ether stones and pushed them towards Lee Ju-ho . He then spoke in a loud voice . “So, that’s all for the distribution . ”

“Thank you . If there’s another opportunity, I hope we can work together again . ”

As quick-witted as he was, Lee Ju-ho replied on time in a loud voice as well .

It was an amicable scene of equally distributing the ether stones after the end of a dungeon attack . It was such a familiar scene that others could notice that both of them had safely completed the dungeon attack .

“Oh my, did you really complete the dungeon attack?”

“Just the two of you? A yellow level dungeon?”

“Wait, doesn’t this tell a different story? The dungeon was obviously…”

“We’re from Ilsung Daily! I’d like to ask a few questions!”

Not just Kim Ba-reun, but the other party members shouted loudly in surprise, and the other awakeners began to frown and question .

Taking advantage of the confused situation, Su-hyeun quietly made his escape . Although there were a few who approached him, Lee Ju-ho had blocked them out .

“Now, let’s all calm down . I’ll explain the details to everyone here . Let’s not tire the exhausted . ”

But Lee Ju-ho should have been the most exhausted person instead .

Su-hyeun felt apologetic for throwing the situation on Lee Ju-ho and leaving first, but he thought that it would be even more burdensome if he were to be captured on screen .

Eventually, Su-hyeun left the place in a hurry . The remaining half of the ether stones could be considered a labor cost .

When he had left the crowd and reached midway on the mountain, the mobile phone in Su-hyeun’s pocket started ringing . He then checked that it was a text message from Lee Ju-ho .

It seemed like Lee Ju-ho was quite concerned over the ether stones that he had received earlier .

Imagining the scene where Lee Ju-ho took the time to send a text message amongst the curious crowd brought a smile to Su-hyeun’s face .

In fact, it didn’t matter much whether he received the ether stones or not .

Su-hyeun sent a reply to Lee Ju-ho’s text message and started hurrying on his way .

There was someone worried about him .

As he was on his way home, Su-hyeun hurriedly bought clothes from a nearby clothing store .

It was uncomfortable wearing clothes that were severely torn and filled with dirt . Moreover, Su-hyeun could not return home in this state .

Shin Su-yeong nagged Su-hyeun for not contacting her, staying out the whole night, and returning in the morning . They met just as Su-hyeun was returning home and when Shin Su-yeong was about to leave the house for work .

“I’ll see you when I’m back home, son . ”

Shin Su-yeong said that with a dull expression in her eyes as she was leaving for work . Su-hyeun let out a deep sigh and muttered .

“I have to let her know, too…”

In any case, if he were to continue working as an awakener, things like this would happen more often . He could not bring Shin Su-yeong so many worries every single time .

Su-hyeun sat in front of the door and took out the C-rank awakener’s registration card to look at it .

If he showed her this, how would she react? Probably like the mother from his previous life…

His mind would not think of it any further . He had decided to take a good rest before thinking about it . It was too exhausting for him today .

Su-hyeun put the two ether stones and the Dimension Teleportation Stone into his bag, along with the remaining highest-grade ether stones he had left over after distributing half to Lee Ju-ho .

After waking up from his sleep, he had to deal with these .

Three hours .

Su-hyeun only had slept for three hours . For others, it would just be a nap, but for Su-hyeun, it was a long sleep .

When he woke up, the sun was already hanging over the sky . Su-hyeun took a shower, got changed and was prepared to leave the house .

An ether stone trading store near Gangnam Station . It was a store where he could most conveniently dispose of the ether stones .

Su-hyeun took a cab, the transport which he would usually choose . Since he could trade ether stones for cash in the future, he could easily afford the taxi fees .

After a 30-minute drive, the taxi came to a stop at Gangnam Station .

He paid the taxi fees with 20,000 Korean Won and alighted right beside Gangnam Station .

Gangnam Station was busy with working adults from early in the morning . The crowd was filled with people heading out for lunch, as well as students who were out to play .

It had been a long time since Su-hyeun was out in a crowded area like this . Su-hyeun took a while to look at his surroundings and then went on his way through a familiar route .

Amongst the tallest building in the area, there was a huge auction house where they had rented out five entire floors from the building .

Su-hyeun’s feet stopped right there .

Buzz—

When the sizeable automatic door opened, a spacious and vibrant lobby appeared .

It felt similar to the entrance of a luxury hotel’s lobby . The lobby personnel saw Su-hyeun’s arrival and spoke .

“Welcome . How can I help you?” It was a male staff donned in a clean and neat outfit .

Su-hyeun looked at him and replied, “I came to sell my goods . ”

“When you mean goods?”

“They are ether stones . ”

As Su-hyeun replied, he took out the ether stones that were kept in his pocket and showed the staff . Although they were the size of small marbles, he had a fistful of them .

These were considered to be shabby compared to the highest-grade ether stones that Su-hyeun kept .

But…

“Are these really all ether stones?”

The staff’s eyes widened in surprise .

Though they might have been small, they were ether stones harvested from a yellow level dungeon which over 10 B-rank awakeners had to gather in order to complete .

It wasn’t surprising to see him shocked by the ether stones mined from that dungeon .