Chapter 20

Chapter 20

What a brilliant glow.

The most expensive—and most precious—mineral of this age lay before my eyes.

[Etherium] was a crystal formed from condensed Ether, a crystallization of pure energy.

It had many uses.

Depending on how it was processed, it could be used as a gemstone or even as a substitute for a battery.

In high-level dungeons, people often used batteries made from processed Etherium so that not only electronic devices, but even batteries themselves, would not fail.

And equipment like that was unbelievably expensive.

Take motorcycles or drones fitted with Etherium batteries, for example.

A drone equipped with an Etherium battery had not only tremendous output, but also incredible endurance, and if you attached a detonator to it, it could even be used as a bomb.

Also, once refined and turned into liquid, it became an excellent potion in its own right.

When consumed by an Awakened, it raised the attributes of their Ether and also increased its total amount.

Its effects varied wildly depending on its type and grade, so the ways it could be used were virtually endless.

In other words, Etherium was the most valuable resource of this age.

Even low-grade Etherium was worth at least twice as much as gold of the same weight.

“It’s red.”

Choi Yura said that as she looked at the Etherium in my hand.

“It is. It’s red.”

“That thing is expensive.”

“Even a newbie knows that much.”

[Red Etherium] raised an Awakened’s attack power and vitality.

It was a mineral coveted by all physical-attack Damage Dealers...... every Awakened with a Warrior or Assassin Role Category.

“How did you know?”

“There are ways to know.”

I gave the [Search] card a little wave.

That was a lie.

I had never once tried using the [Search] card to look for items hidden inside objects.

Finding the Red Etherium was purely the result of experience.

If you looked carefully at the pots inside [Cursed Citadel], you could tell that their patterns were all different.

And from those patterns, you could tell which pots were traps and which had items hidden inside them.

“What about the other pots? How about this one?”

Choi Yura pointed to the pot sitting directly opposite.

“Oh, really? Weren’t you just saying not to touch anything? Calling me a crazy bastard?”

“I-I only said that because I didn’t know there was Etherium inside.”

Choi Yura spoke in a slightly cowed voice.

“Ahem.”

Captain Im’s subordinates, apparently embarrassed because they had cursed at me too, deliberately looked elsewhere.

“Don’t touch that one. It’s a trap.”

“Mm.”

Choi Yura smacked her lips as though disappointed.

Now that she had seen the Red Etherium, she probably wanted to crack open every pot in sight.

“Not that one.”

I kicked over another pot a few meters away and shattered it.

Crash!

This time, blue Etherium came out from the broken remains of the pot.

“T-That’s impossible!”

“Blue?”

Everyone was shocked out of their wits.

To be honest, even I was a little surprised.

“Wow, blue came out of this one.”

[Blue Etherium] raised a Mage’s spell power.

And because Mages were rare, Blue Etherium was very rare as well.

In terms of value, you would need about five pieces of Red Etherium to obtain Blue Etherium of the same grade.

In other words, it was five times more expensive.

“Hmm.”

I slipped the Blue Etherium into my pocket, then tossed the Red Etherium to Choi Yura.

“You’re giving this to me?”

“You worked hard. And you’ll be working hard from here on too.”

“......Thanks.”

After thanking me, Choi Yura promptly swallowed the Red Etherium.

Ssssss!

A faint red Ether wrapped itself around Choi Yura.

Yes, that was the right call.

It was the proper judgment.

We were in a crisis situation right now, so if there was any means of strengthening yourself, like Etherium, it was best to use it.

“Woooow.”

“You’re just handing out Red Etherium for free.”

Captain Im’s subordinates looked at Choi Yura with unmistakable envy.

***

We passed through Basement Level 2 of [Cursed Citadel], where the drainage channel was located, and headed toward Basement Level 1.

“Don’t touch anything carelessly.”

“I know that already, okay?!”

The moment I cautioned her, Choi Yura flared up.

“You look like you’re itching to smash open every pot you see.”

“I-I’m not!”

“Oh, really?”

It was not just Choi Yura.

Every time Captain Im’s group saw a pot, they had a hard time simply passing it by.

That was how valuable Etherium was.

Even knowing there was a high chance it was a trap, they still could not help thinking, What if?

Hmm.

It was too quiet.

There were no monsters on Basement Level 2 of [Cursed Citadel].

But monsters started appearing from Basement Level 1 onward.

So if it was this quiet......

Step, step!

The sound of many footsteps came from far away.

“Stop! Stop!”

Captain Im shouted as he aimed his rifle forward.

“Well now, you’ve all been working hard.”

Someone walked out of the darkness with both hands raised.

He was a fat middle-aged man wearing a snapback cap, an Under Armour short-sleeve shirt, tactical pants, a plate carrier, and a thick gold necklace around his neck.

He was the very stereotype of what people called a ‘tattoo pig.’

“So it was the military gentlemen. Hunter Choi Yura is here too. Nice to meet you. I’m Min Yongnam.”

There were seven Hunters behind Min Yongnam, and even at a glance, they did not look like a decent lot.

“Hey, hey, Jongseok, what are you doing? At least hand out a drink to the people doing the nation’s work.”

“Yes, boss. You’ve all been working hard.”

The smallest Hunter rummaged through his backpack, pulled out several canned drinks, and handed them to us.

‘That......’

I caught a glimpse of something inside the bag the canned drinks were coming out of.

Slowly, Captain Im lowered his gun.

“I’m Captain Im Museong of the Defense Strategy Department. Please feel free to call me Captain Im.”

“Yes, yes, I’m Min Yongnam.”

The tattoo pig flashed an easy grin.

“Meeting people serving the country down here really puts my mind at ease. Hah.”

“What brings you here?”

“We were hunting on the first floor, but then an Eruption suddenly happened, so we ran down to the basement.”

“I see.”

“And what about you military gentlemen?”

“We are......”

With a whir, a spinning disc cut across the tattoo pig’s neck as it flew past.

Thud, roll......

The tattoo pig’s head fell to the floor.

Fwoooosh!

Thump!

The tattoo pig’s body collapsed as blood sprayed from it like a fountain.

“......!”

Everyone was stunned.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Captain Im shouted at me.

“If you just kill someone out of nowhe—”

I answered with bullets.

Ratatatatata!

The muzzle of the Bren 2 spat fire.

“Fuck!”

“Aagh!”

Caught in the sudden hail of bullets, the tattoo pig’s group let out screams.

“Cha Eunseong, you crazy bastard!”

Even as Choi Yura spat curses, she swung her chains and attacked the tattoo pig’s group.

Barely ten seconds.

That was all the time Choi Yura and I needed to annihilate the tattoo pig’s men.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?!”

Captain Im grabbed me by the collar.

“Let go.”

“Why did you kill them?! Why!”

“Let go.”

Captain Im met my eyes and flinched.

“Search that bastard’s backpack over there.”

“What do you mean......?”

“The one who was pulling out the drinks for us.”

“Check it.”

One of Captain Im’s subordinates searched the backpack.

“C-Captain.”

Several clown masks came out from inside the backpack.

“......Wreckers.”

Captain Im quietly let go of the hand that had been clutching my collar.

If they were the kind of bastards who carried masks around in their backpacks, then there was no room for excuses. They were Wreckers.

“How did you know?”

“I caught a glimpse of it inside the bag.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You should have been able to tell at a glance. That these bastards were Wreckers.”

“......”

Captain Im did not answer.

He must have known as well that these bastards were not good people.

It was just that, as a soldier, he could not attack rashly and had been trying to act carefully.

“I truly apologize for misunderstanding you. And... if something like this happens again, please tell us beforehand next time.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Then......”

“Let’s loot them and keep moving.”

Since we had taken down enemies either way, we might as well take what was worth taking.

***

Looting was an act that almost inevitably took place after a fight broke out between Awakened.

Looting the dead enemy’s equipment and belongings was only natural.

“There’s quite a lot here.”

Choi Yura turned the dead Wreckers’ bags upside down and dumped their items onto the floor.

Since they had apparently been hunting for quite a while, all kinds of material items spilled out of the Wreckers’ bags.

When monsters died, they scattered into Ether, but sometimes they also dropped material items such as leather or bones.

Such material items were extremely valuable in their own right.

The remains of monsters often contained mysterious properties, so once processed, they were useful in all sorts of ways.

And material items were not the only things worth looting.

A translucent sphere was floating above the tattoo pig’s corpse.

A translucent sphere rising above an Awakened’s corpse was nine times out of ten a Rune.

A Rune was a mysterious stone that contained techniques, in other words, skills or attributes.

Runes dropped from monsters at a very low probability, and they were usually related to the monster that had dropped them.

Awakened became stronger by absorbing Runes and gaining the techniques or attributes contained within them.

“So there was something like this too.”

The Rune dropped by the tattoo pig looked fairly valuable.

It was not as though I knew every Rune there was.

[Luck]

Rune

★★★

Item drop rate upon killing monsters +15%

Always Active

It might not help in combat, but it looked quite useful for farming.

Fifteen percent was not a probability that could simply be ignored.

I reached out toward the Rune called [Luck].

Sliiide.

Then a card slipped out of the deck and absorbed [Luck].

“W-What is that?”

Startled, I examined the card.

[Luck]

Magic Card

★★★

Luck +25% (Always Active)

Luck +20~120% (When Card Is Activated)

The card bore the image of a goddess rolling dice while both of her eyes were covered in bandages.

Earlier, it had absorbed the Wreckers’ Spirit Swords, and now it could even absorb Rune items.

“M-Mr. Cha. What was that just now......?”

“Wait a moment.”

Ignoring Captain Im’s question, I poured Ether into the card.

The card vanished, and a goddess with both eyes wrapped in bandages appeared.

In truth, it was not only her eyes. She wore no clothes at all, with only bandages covering her most vital parts, but perhaps because she seemed so holy, not the slightest thought of indecency came to mind.

• To you......

The goddess’s voice echoed inside my head.

• may fortune be with you.

Clatter, clatter.

The goddess rolled the dice in her hand, then placed two dice in mine.

Carefully, I opened my palm.

The result was 6 and 6.

A total of 12.

Your luck increases by 120% for 5 minutes!

The goddess smiled brightly, kissed my forehead, and then vanished without a trace.