𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝟓
[Beluin’s specter and apostles moving somewhere.]
[Top 10 guilds cannot be trusted! Rebellion of existing players!]
[Beluin subjugation team gathering.]
[Players claiming that all specters must be eliminated before they gather in one place.]
[Continental crisis! Beluin’s thoughts and strengthened monsters appearing everywhere!]
‘It’s a mess.’
When Beluin was released from the seal, the players formed a subjugation team on their own, and the guilds that progressed the main scenario were unable to do anything because of the sins they committed.
To be precise, their right to speak has weakened, hasn’t it?
Whether it was because of their greed for money or not, they showed their pathetic defeat through broadcasts, so it might have been a natural result.
Click━
[Beluin subjugation team gathering.]
[Content: Excluding the Harpe Empire, all countries have failed the main scenario, and the continent is in great crisis.
Now is the time when your strength is needed.
We are confident that if we all join forces, we can stop Beluin’s advent!]
‘Did the guy who wrote this even fight Beluin? Why is he so sure?’
Also, it’s not just Beluin’s specter that’s moving.
It’s moving along with the apostle that couldn’t be killed, which means that if we encounter it now, we’ll have to fight an unknown number of apostles as well.
‘Well, I don’t know if we can push through with a human-wave tactic.’
If about 100,000 people gathered and attacked, there seemed to be a chance of winning.
Click━
[Estimated time of Beluin’s advent.]
[Content: Everyone will know that Beluin will descend when all of Beluin’s specters merge into one.
And calculating the distance and time traveled so far, it seems that all the specters will gather in about 15 days.
We have 15 days left.
Of course, if a battle breaks out, the period could be a little longer.
Including that, I think Beluin will descend in about 20 to 25 days.]
‘This guy believes that Beluin will descend.’
It seems that he doesn’t even consider the possibility of catching the specter with the players’ strength, friendship, and trust.
‘Well, considering the track record so far, it’s only natural.’
Anyway, that’s all I think about Beluin.
Since the Harpe Empire succeeded in sealing, Beluin’s specter does not appear.
So, I shifted my thoughts to the other side and recalled the demon I had faced yesterday.
‘The demon itself wasn’t difficult.’
If I had fought alone, it could have been a tough fight, but I wasn’t alone at the time.
There were dozens of guild members, and since it wasn’t a raid boss, I dealt with it relatively simply, but the rewards I obtained afterward were ambiguous.
‘Why did only this strange piece of paper come out?’
But if that dungeon was found by Illia, there might be a reason.
She said there weren’t many dungeons that could be found through quests, but would that be the end?
Furthermore, the paper was written in a language I had never seen before, so I couldn’t even interpret it, and I was stuck right there.
‘Well, staying like this isn’t good either……’
I was thinking of asking Sina, who is relatively knowledgeable.
* * *
“So you’re saying you’re looking for someone who can interpret this paper?”
“Yes.”
“You can just ask Radells in the Elf Forest.”
“I already tried.”
After catching the demon and obtaining the paper, I headed to the Elf Forest in my spare time.
It was to ask Radells, who could deduce to some extent even though the interpretation was messed up, but unfortunately, Radells also said that he couldn’t interpret it because it was a language he didn’t know.
Well, I might be able to find out if I ask Illia, who answered that she was a developer, but we had already finished exchanging questions, and since it was the last question, I didn’t deliberately look for her.
“Interpretation…… I do have someone in mind.”
“You do?”
“Yes, you know him too, Rudin-nim. The Archmage Derhart.”
‘Derhart?’
Who is that? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere.
Seeing me pondering, Sina seemed convinced that I didn’t know who it was and corrected what she had said.
“I’m sorry. You probably don’t know him, Rudin-nim, but there’s an Archmage named Derhart.”
“Can that Archmage interpret this language?”
“I told you, it’s a guess. But since he’s called an Archmage, wouldn’t he be able to interpret this kind of language?”
Indeed, it might be better to go to an NPC called an Archmage than to stare at this uninterpretable paper.
“The problem is that he’s hard to meet. You’ll have to figure that out yourself, Rudin-nim.”
Sina’s words that he was hard to meet gave me a rough idea.
It’s hard to imagine that someone who is an Archmage would meet just anyone.
‘Should I just think of it as a trivial piece of paper and throw it away?’
There was a lot to do besides interpreting this paper.
So, it might be more efficient to throw the paper away and do other things than to struggle here and there to meet the Archmage.
“For your information, the Archmage is in the Royal Palace, so it will be easy to get there. You have that sword, Rudin-nim.”
The sword Sina mentioned is the sword bestowed by the Harpe Emperor.
With that sword, I could freely enter and exit the Royal Palace, so as Sina said, getting there was no problem.
“……”
Ah, damn it!
Just wait and see if it turns out to be nothing special.
* * *
In the end, I decided to meet the Archmage and headed straight to the Royal Palace.
However, as expected, I couldn’t meet the Archmage. I was only told that I couldn’t meet him unless I made an appointment in advance.
So, I tried to make an appointment, but that wasn’t easy either.
“……What is this?”
“To make an appointment, you need to bring one of the items listed here.”
The Archmage’s attendant said that and handed me a piece of paper, and I read what was written on it.
[Moonlight Magic Herb] (Rare) x1
[Water of Souls] (Rare) x1
[Abyssal Sand] (Rare) x1
[……]
[……]
Various materials were listed on the paper, more than ten of them, and ridiculously, all of them were Rare grade.
In other words, I had to bring Rare grade materials to make an appointment.
Isn’t this a bribe?
“Derhart-nim said that if you can get him these materials, you’re not just anyone, so he’ll meet you.”
Well, he’s a very expensive person.
The problem was that I couldn’t easily get Rare materials either.
If I searched the bank, there were a few materials I had obtained from catching raid bosses in the past, but unfortunately, none of the items listed on this paper were there.
“Can’t I use other materials?”
“I was instructed to only accept the materials listed on the paper.”
“……”
Didn’t you say it was to filter out just anyone?
Then, as long as the grade is the same, why do I have to bring only the materials listed on the paper?
I had a lot to say, but arguing here wouldn’t get me anywhere.
‘Instead of the paper, it would have been better if a normal item had popped out.’
Anyway, it might be impossible for me to find these materials alone, but obtaining them was a different matter.
“Summon Cash Transaction Window.”
Pabak━
The so-called greatness of money!
Recalling the truth that even difficult tasks can be easily solved with money, I opened the Cash Transaction Window and looked at the materials there, and soon I was able to find a few materials.
[Water of Souls] (Rare)
[Starting Bid: 1,500,000]
[Current Bid: 1,850,000]
[Remaining Time: 3 hours 24 minutes 17 seconds]
[Breath of Fire] (Rare)
[Starting Bid: 2,000,000]
[Current Bid: 2,200,000]
[Remaining Time: 9 hours 40 minutes 27 seconds]
‘……What the hell is with these prices?’
The C-rank skill book I bought yesterday was the same, but it felt like the prices had gone up overall.
The absurd thing is that there are still people buying.
Usually, if there are no buyers, the price would go down, but looking at the listed items and the current bid price, it seems that they are being sold somehow.
‘If the price was below 1 million won, I would have bought it without hesitation.’
I couldn’t spend 2 million won on a piece of paper I didn’t even know what it was.
Moreover, after confirming that there was still quite a lot of time left until the auction ended, I thought of another way and remembered the Emperor Guild.
‘If it’s in the Emperor Guild, would I be able to buy it with gold?’
Just because I remembered the Emperor Guild, it didn’t mean I was going to take it like a robber.
I was thinking of paying about 150 gold.
Considering the current gold market price, 150 gold was not a small amount, so I thought it would work and contacted Aizen, and Aizen immediately answered the call.
━Yes, Rudin-nim.
“I’m sorry, but could you tell me which of the items I’m about to list the guild has?”
After saying that, I read out the list written on the paper.
━Is it by any chance the materials to meet the Archmage?
“Huh? You knew?”
━It’s famous. Anyway, I’ll send you one of those materials.
“Ah, I’m not saying I’ll just take it. I’ll give you gold.”
I had quite a lot of gold earned from completing the main scenario, and Aizen was continuously spending gold to develop the territory.
So, I thought it would be a little help if I sent him gold, but Aizen refused as if it didn’t matter.
━It’s okay, don’t worry about it.
Not long after that, mail arrived, and when I opened the item window to check, I could see that it was one of the materials on the list.
[Finely Refined Spirit Stone Powder] (Rare)
‘But what if the paper really doesn’t have anything special written on it?’
I didn’t lose anything since I got a Rare grade material for free, but I felt like it wouldn’t feel good.
In addition, to check that, I took out the spirit stone powder and handed it to the attendant.
“This is enough, right?”
“It’s finely refined spirit stone powder. Yes, I’ll deliver it to Derhart-nim and make an appointment for you.”
The attendant who received the spirit stone powder went somewhere, and after waiting for a while to hear the answer, I soon saw the attendant returning.
“The conversation is over. Please come this way.”
“Huh? It works this fast?”
“Fortunately, he says he has time now.”
I don’t know if the system is originally like this, but if I could meet him right away, it would save me time.
Following the attendant, I arrived at a door, and then following the attendant’s gesture to enter, I stepped inside, and an old man sitting at a desk greeted me.
“Welcome. You who passed my test.”
‘Talking about a test and whatnot.’
“Wanting to meet me by offering such a valuable material must mean you have something important to discuss. I happen to have time, so tell me.”
However, it seemed like the conversation would go smoothly.
I was about to hand the paper to Derhart, who told me to tell him quickly, but before I could, Derhart’s words came first.
“Wait. Looking closely, you were the adventurer who helped me with my work before.”
“Work?”
“The Black Magician’s research records. Didn’t you bring them to me?”
Saying that, a memory came to mind.
When I had just started Twilight a few days ago, someone had offered to do a quest together, and it seemed like he was talking about that quest.
‘Was it about 3 months ago?’
“This is also fate. Then I’ll pay more attention to your matter.”
Well, I was grateful if he paid more attention.
I thanked him and handed him the paper, and Derhart received the paper I handed him and tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“I would like you to interpret the contents written on that paper.”
“Hmm.”
At my words, Derhart stared at the paper silently.
He can’t interpret it, can he?
If he couldn’t interpret it, it would be a waste of the precious Rare grade material, so I was inwardly anxious, but Derhart soon took out a white piece of paper next to him and started writing something on it.
“It’s done.”
What was he doing? He was writing down the interpreted contents.
Anyway, Derhart handed me the paper I had given him and the paper he had written on at the same time, and I bowed my head and received the two pieces of paper.
“But it’s still a bit strange. Where did you get that paper?”
“I got it from a demon.”
“A demon…… I see. I understand.”
I don’t know what he understood, but since the contents of the paper were interpreted, there was no need to stay any longer.
Therefore, I left Derhart’s room and immediately checked the contents written on the paper, but the contents written on the paper were completely different from what I had expected.
[Demon Contract Recipe]
Description: A recipe that allows you to summon a demon and even make a contract with it. The better the grade of the materials, the higher the rank of the demon that appears.
*Required Materials: (Blood 5), (Magic Powder 3), (Darkness Stone 1)
“……”
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